LHC reserves decision on PTI's electoral symbol plea

The Lahore High Court (LHC) reserved its verdict on Wednesday on a plea challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) order which withdrew Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)'s electoral symbol of 'cricket bat'.

The petitioner, Chaudhry Umer Aftab, urged the court to annul the order, suspend its operation until a final decision is reached, and direct the ECP to "publish PTI's certificate on the ECP website".

Aftab also sought a declaration that the electoral symbol was unlawfully withdrawn and that the ECP lacks jurisdiction to determine the conformity of intra-party elections with the party constitution.

During the proceedings presided by Justice Jawad Hassan, the petitioner's counsel argued that the election commissioner of Punjab was disregarding the decision of the Peshawar High Court (PHC).

Justice Jawad questioned whether the provincial election commissioner could go against the decision of his chief election commissioner, highlighting that an appeal against the PHC decision is still pending.

PTI's counsel contended that PTI's contestants are facing various tactics to impede their progress. "First, they were restrained from submitting nomination papers, and now PTI's electoral symbol has been withdrawn," argued PTI's counsel. Justice Jawad reminded that the Supreme Court had prohibited any interference in election matters.

Read PHC reserves verdict on ECP petition against restoration of PTI's 'bat'

The petitioner's counsel pointed out that PTI had its electoral symbol reinstated in Peshawar by the PHC's order, but in Punjab, PTI is still deprived of it. The counsel urged LHC to issue an order restoring PTI's electoral symbol at the Punjab level.

The crux of the arguments focused on the PHC's decision, with the petitioner's counsel asserting that LHC should restore the electoral symbol, equating its absence to depriving PTI's supporters of their party's symbol.

However, the lawyer representing the federation contended that the petitioner was not directly affected, rendering the plea non-maintainable.

Justice Jawad questioned whether the LHC could grant relief based on the decision of another province's court. He also inquired whether the political party had challenged the relevant sections of the Elections Act anywhere. After hearing the arguments, Justice Jawad reserved the decision.

The petitioner, in his plea, argued that the ECP has no authority to challenge the internal appointments of PTI officials or nullify PTI's intra-party elections. The petitioner emphasised that the ECP is not a court of law and cannot question the appointments or examine the validity of the political party's intra-party elections for any reasons.