The elections commission members who had left the country amid increasing death threats following allegations of vote rigging in last month's presidential elections have returned to the Maldives.
Most of the five member commission had fled to neighbouring Sri Lanka after they along with their families had received death threats.
However, AVAS understands that except one, the remaining three members have now returned to the Maldives earlier this week.
Their return comes as the country's top court is set to issue a verdict on the legal challenge filed by incumbent president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom seeking to annul the election.
President Yameen had filed a legal challenge at the Supreme Court last week seeking to annul last month's presidential election citing rigging and electoral fraud.
The case largely accused the Elections commission of using pens with disappearing ink while ballot papers had also been laced with a chemical that wiped votes for president Yameen.
Yameen lost the September 23 election by a margin of 16 percent to opposition alliance candidate, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, in an outcome hailed as a win for democracy in the crisis-hit archipelago.
The result was widely accepted, including by the United States, China, India, and the European Union.
Yameen conceded defeat a day after the election but had alleged widespread irregularities in the vote.
During Tuesday's hearing, the five judge bench had rejected the three witnesses which was a major blow to president Yameen's hopes of annulling the election.
The Supreme Court has now ended the hearings on the challenge and a verdict is expected next. However, it remains unclear when the top court would deliver its verdict.
