Chandigarh, Dec. 5 -- The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday moved the Punjab and Haryana high court, alleging misuse of police machinery to subvert the electoral process in Punjab for Zila Parishad polls.

A public interest litigation (PIL) filed by SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema was taken up for urgent hearing after a request in this regard was raised by his counsel and was taken up by the bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Sajiv Berry in the afternoon.

The plea demanded an independent probe into an audio clip allegedly of Patiala senior superintendent of police instructing officers to deploy cops as a "partisan force to sabotage opposition candidates" during the nomination process. The plea also demanded to deployment of...