The top electoral body had challenged the ruling of the single bench of the ECP that restored the “bat symbol” of the PTI.
- PTI lawyers request to postpone the hearing until tomorrow.
- The single-member court comprising Justice Ijaz Khan hears the statement.
- PHC had suspended ECP’s order on PTI’s ‘bat’ symbol.
PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) will hear the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) petition challenging its single-court ruling on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) ‘bat’ election symbol and the intra-party elections on Wednesday (tomorrow).
The poll body had filed a review petition in the high court against its December 26 decision that stayed the ECP order and reinstated the party’s ‘bat’ symbol until a final decision was taken on the matter.
The ECP, in its order, declared the PTI’s intra-party polls “illegal” and removed the “bat” symbol. Following his order, the former ruling party approached the PHC seeking to restore its party symbol ahead of the general elections scheduled for February 8.
In its petition, the ECP then asked the court to review the PTI’s intra-party elections and its decision related to the electoral symbol.
Earlier today, a single-member bench comprising PHC Judge Ijaz Khan conducted the hearing and reserved the verdict. However, the PTI lawyers did not appear in court and later requested to hear them before deciding the plea.
After this, the court adjourned the hearing until tomorrow.
hearing
During the hearing, the ECP lawyer presented his arguments and told the court that the body had filed a review petition against the high court order. He added that the ECP also issued a notice to the PTI in this regard.
“The PTI did not conduct the internal party elections properly. Questions were raised about the powers of the ECP and the ECP’s decision was said to be unconstitutional,” the ECP lawyer said.
The lawyer said the single bench stayed the ECP order and issued a stay order without hearing the arguments of the electoral body.
The stay order granted by PHC was not an interim measure but amounts to a final verdict on the matter, the lawyer said.
“The PTI has also filed a petition before the Lahore High Court (LHC) when a second court cannot be approached after filing a plea before another,” the ECP lawyer said.
Justice Khan asked if anyone from the petitioner’s party was present in the court.
Given this, the ECP lawyer said that there was no one. He then asked the court to withdraw the December 26 order, adding that a bench should be constituted to properly hear the case.
Meanwhile, the attorney general stated that the federation does not want to be a party to the case. “We have nothing to do with it, we should be removed from this case,” he added.
The court then reserved the verdict after hearing the arguments.
