PTI seeks SC larger bench to hear appeal
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has urged the Supreme Court to form a larger bench to hear the intraparty election review case.
The case is scheduled to be heard by a three-member bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarat Hilali on October 21.
The former ruling party has filed a miscellaneous application in the case.
In its petition, the PTI cited the majority decision by the eight judges regarding the reserved seats, arguing that the case involved constitutional interpretation.
The party contended that a bench comprising five or eight judges be constituted to hear the case, emphasising that there were important observations in prior rulings concerning the conduct of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The PTI urged the Supreme Court to form a larger bench under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, maintaining that it was necessary for a thorough review of the case.
During the previous hearing, PTI lawyer Hamid Khan had also requested the court to adjourn the hearing of the case.
On June 9, 2022, the former ruling party held its intraparty polls which were voided by the ECP in November 2023.
The case dragged on for around one-and-a half years.
In its order, the ECP granted PTI 20 days to hold fresh elections if it did not want to lose its electoral symbol - bat. The order came at a time when general elections were about two months away and political parties were ratcheting up their poll campaigns across the country.
Eager to retain its iconic electoral symbol, the PTI acted swiftly, holding its intraparty elections in less than 10 days on December 2, 2023.
On December 22, the ECP voided the PTI's internal elections for the second time in less than a month after conducting an unprecedented microscopic examination of the party's inner workings. The commission also declared the party ineligible to receive an election symbol for the upcoming general elections.
The ECP held that the PTI secretary general could not have appointed a federal election commissioner to hold intraparty polls.
As a result, the PTI candidates had to contest general elections as independents, and the party had to hold its polls for the third time on March 3, 2024.
The polls supervisory body once again raised objections over the electoral exercise and took up the matter for hearing even without sharing details of the objections.
On PTI's objections, the election supervisor finally shared a questionnaire with the party, seeking information about its intraparty elections and questioning the party's status after "losing organisational structure and election symbol".
Later, the PTI submitted a detailed response to seven questions asked by the ECP, urging the election supervisor to officially recognise the latest intraparty polls.