Relief for Nawaz: SC probe rejects rigging charge

In a huge relief for Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, a high-level probe by the Supreme Court on Thursday absolved his party of rigging the 2013 general election which the PMl-N won by a landslide.The probe was launched in April after a deal between the Government and Opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan who had spearheaded violent protests over alleged fraud in the election that brought Sharif to power for an unprecedented third term as Prime Minister.

The PMl-N won 129 of the 272 seats in the National Assembly while PTI won only 35. Khan, who for the first time won about three dozen seats in the national assembly in the 2013 election, had alleged after the polls that he was robbed of several seats due to organised rigging.