In a sigh of relief for the embattled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday declared “illegal” the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to revoke the PTI’s ‘bat’ electoral symbol and reject its intra-party polls.
In the short order, the PHC said that the ECP order was “illegal, without any lawful authority and of no legal effect”.
The court instructed the ECP to publish the certificate submitted by PTI after its internal polls on the commission's website. Moreover, it affirmed PTI's entitlement to the election symbol in accordance with sections 215 and 217, along with other applicable provisions of the Election Act, 2017, and Election Rules, 2017.
The verdict was announced by a two-member bench, comprising Justice Ejaz Anwar and Justice Syed Arshad Ali, in response to a joint petition filed by PTI Chairman Gohar Khan and six other leaders. The petition sought the court's intervention to invalidate the ECP's order, arguing it was illegal and beyond jurisdiction.
On December 22, the electoral watchdog invalidated PTI's internal elections, resulting in the withdrawal of the party's iconic ‘cricket bat’ symbol.
However, on December 26, the PHC, presided over by a single judge Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel, suspended the commission’s decision to nullify the PTI's intra-party polls and revoke its 'cricket bat' symbol.
The court in its order had directed the commission to publish the PTI’s certificate on its website and restore the electoral symbol of the party.
The ECP held a meeting following the PHC’s decision. The commission then decided to challenge the PHC decision through an intra-court appeal filed on December 30, 2023.
As the hearing commenced on Wednesday, Justice Anwar remarked that the 'ladla' (blue-eyed boy) title keeps switching from person to person.
Advocate Qazi Javed stated that his client and PTI’s former district general secretary came to know about the intra-party polls from the media, mentioning that Javed wanted to participate in the party polls; but was not given the opportunity.
Advocate Javed stated that he also approached the ECP in this regard. Upon Justice Anwar’s inquiry on whether all members or just provincial representatives were elected in the polls, Javed remarked that the representatives of the entire country were elected.
The counsel maintained that if PTI is demanding a level playing field, then it should provide the same to its party workers as well.
The lawyer for petitioner Jahangir from Charsadda, Naveed Akhtar, stated that his client was the PTI's district president and was dismissed from the party over a statement. Naveed claimed that PTI did not elect officials as per the constitution, maintaining that every party should abide by its constitution.
Justice Ali inquired whether there could be a penalty for intra-party elections or was any action taken by the electoral watchdog, to which the lawyer replied that no action was taken by the election commission.
The counsel for the complainant argued that the ECP should have ensured that the intra-party polls were held under Section 208.
PTI lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar, while presenting his arguments, said he wanted to clarify the principle of jurisdiction in the case. He said that under Article 199, the PHC is empowered to hear the party's plea as the intra-polls were held in Peshawar - which falls under the jurisdiction of the PHC.
He further said that the party's chairman also belongs to K-P and when asked about the general secretary, he replied it is Umar Ayub.
Justice Anwar remarked that if the intra-party election was against the constitution, ECP neither issued the party a show-cause notice nor any punishment and added that the election body only nullified PTI's intra-party polls.
Read SC disposes of PTI's bat symbol plea after party withdraws it:
PTI withdraws petition
In a related development, the PTI retracted its application for the allotment of its election symbol from the Supreme Court, following which the apex court dismissed the application on withdrawal grounds.
In a hearing presided over by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar stepped forward, expressing the intent to withdraw the application.
ECP meeting
Meanwhile, the ECP has called an important meeting in the wake of the PHC’s ruling. Scheduled to take place today morning at the ECP Secretariat, the meeting will be presided over by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja. Alongside the CEC, the session will include the participation of the four members of the ECP and special secretaries.
The primary agenda of the meeting will be a comprehensive discussion on the Peshawar High Court's decision regarding the allotment of election symbol to the PTI. The ECP will provide a detailed briefing to its law wing, focusing particularly on the legal aspects pertinent to the judgment
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