PESHAWAR, Dec 26 (NNI): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has won back its electoral symbol – Bat – after Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday suspended Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to invalidate PTI’s intra-party elections and withdraw the electoral symbol.
Issuing the stay order, the court also issued notices to all respondents including the ECP.
Earlier, a PHC judge remarked that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) cannot withdraw electoral symbol of a political party after the issuance of the election schedule.
PHC’s Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel on Tuesday observed the ECP would have to allot the electoral symbol to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as it can’t be revoked after the poll schedule was out.
The judge, however, said that he cannot issue a verdict on the PTI’s petition challenging the ECP’s verdict declaring the intra-party polls as “illegal” and also withdrawing party’s iconic election symbol “bat”. He said it’s a case for a divisional bench of the high court.
Earlier in the day, the PTI filed a petition in the PHC challenging the ECP’s order. The party had named the ECP and those who challenged the party elections as respondents in its plea filed with a request for an urgent hearing of the matter.
After admitting the plea, the PHC decided to take up the PTI’s challenge to ECP verdict today, fixing the petition for hearing.
The court later began hearing the PTI’s petition with Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel presiding.
PTI counsel Barrister Ali Zafar maintained that when a party provides its intra-party poll details to the ECP, the Commission typically issues a certificate and posts it on its website. “This certificate then renders the political party eligible to receive its electoral symbol.”
However, Ali Zafar argued that, as of now, the certificate has not yet been uploaded to the ECP website.
Ali Zafar argued that the ECP’s directives were illegal, asserting that stripping the PTI of its electoral symbol was also unjust. “With over 0.8 million members, none from within the party raised concerns about the intra-party polls,” he updated the court.
Ali Zafar also questioned the relevance of individuals approaching the ECP. “These are ordinary citizens, not affiliated with the PTI,” the lawyer contended. He emphasised that judgments in such cases could not be given by civil courts without a proper trial.
“The ECP stated that Omer Ayub is not the secretary-general, hence he cannot make any appointments,” Ali Zafar remarked, adding even if there were errors in appointments, the polls themselves could not be challenged.
According to the text of the plea, submitted at PHC by PTI lawyers on Tuesday, it was prayed to the court that the ECP has no power to rule on the mechanism of holding the intra-party elections.
The people who challenged the PTI’s intra-party elections were even not the members of the party, the text said.
The PTI plea made respondents those who had challenged intra-party elections and the ECP, saying the Commission had also withdrawn the “bat” symbol from the party.
The PTI requested the PHC to constitute a bench of senior judges and fix the hearing of their challenge to the ECP’s December 33 decision, for today.
Talking to the media outside PHC in Peshawar, PTI leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said even a single bench can suspend ECP’s decision as there were winter vacations going on in the high court.
Responding to a question, he said a political party “ceases to exist” if its elections symbol is withdrawn. “We are not being treated fairly at all, what to talk about level-playing field,” he declared.
The decision to contest the ECP’s ruling arose from a meeting between the PTI founder, Imran Khan, currently detained, and Gohar Ali Khan, who elected as the PTI chairman in the December 2 party polls.
The PTI recently declared its intention to challenge the ECP’s ruling in both the Supreme Court and the PHC. Gohar Ali Khan expressed disappointment in the ECP’s verdict, citing flaws in the ruling.
On December 22, a five-member ECP bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, had invalidated PTI’s intra-party elections, stripping the former ruling party of its iconic cricket bat electoral symbol.
This decision was announced after PTI representatives met with ECP officials, expressing concerns about an unfair playing field ahead of the upcoming general elections scheduled for February 8.
Despite his disappointment with the ECP’s decision, Gohar Ali Khan said he remained hopeful for justice from the courts. He instructed candidates to submit their nomination papers and assured that the party has contingency plans, intending to pursue legal recourse if needed.
The PTI conducted intra-party elections earlier this month to comply with an ECP requirement for retaining the party’s electoral symbol.
On December 22, the ECP nullified the PTI elections, citing the party’s non-compliance with directives and failure to conduct intra-party elections in accordance with PTI’s constitution and election regulations. NNI
