LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday directed Attorney General (AG) Salman Butt to ask Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif about his suggestions on the long march.

A three-judge bench of the LHC, headed by Justice Khalid Mehmood Khan and including Justice Shahid Hameed and Justice Anwarul Haq, issued the directive during the hearing of a petition against Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s Azadi march.

The petition, filed by citizen Muhammad Kamran, states that the march announced by PTI against alleged rigging in the 2013 general election would promote anarchy in country.

During the hearing, the court directed the attorney general to ask the prime minister regarding his suggestions on the long march.

The attorney general replied that Nawaz Sharif would hold talks with Imran Khan only if the latter called off his 'Azadi March.' He made it clear that the holding of talks was conditional to the calling off back of the march.

The court also instructed PTI's counsel Ahmed Owais to ask Imran Khan about his demands so the matter could be amicably resolved.

Owais was also asked if he advised Imran to meet the premier in accordance with the court's earlier directives.

The PTI counsel replied that at the current stage, negotiations seemed out of the question.

The bench asked that if Imran believed the elections to be rigged then why had he taken oath in the assembly.

Owais responded to the question saying that the party had been putting forward its demands for the past 14 months but to no avail.

The court subsequently adjourned the hearing until 3pm.