ISLAMABAD: On Monday, the Supreme Court (SC) set a date for the hearing of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) plea to reinstate the ‘bat’ as its electoral symbol.
On January 4, PTI approached the Supreme Court to challenge the Peshawar High Court (PHC) verdict, which upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision resulting in the removal of the party’s electoral symbol, the ‘bat.’
The hearing for the plea was scheduled during the level-playing field case proceedings.
During the hearing, PTI’s lawyer, Shoaib Shaheen, urged the Supreme Court to address the ‘bat’ symbol case on the same day, citing the Peshawar High Court’s imminent hearing the next day.
Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, while summoning Hamid Khan, remarked on the prevalence of PTI-related cases in the courts. He pointed out that although PTI wants their cases to be heard, they often neglect to attend the courtroom.
Responding to the summons, Hamid Khan appeared in court and requested an immediate hearing for the ‘bat’ symbol case. However, the Chief Justice noted the busy schedule and suggested fixing the hearing for January 10.
ECP Verdict
On December 2, the ECP had nullified Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s intra-party elections, for the third time since last year, declaring the PTI ineligible for obtaining its traditional electoral symbol of ‘bat’.
In its verdict, the ECP said, “So keeping in view the clear mandate of Elections Act 2017 – it is held that PTI has not complied with our directions rendered therein order dated 23rd November, 2023 and failed to hold intra-party election in accordance with PTI prevailing Constitution 2019 and Elections Act 2017, and Election Rules, 2017. Therefore, the certificate dated 4th December, 2023 and Form-65 filed by the alleged chairman, is hereby regretted and rejected accordingly”.
PTI had challenged the ECP verdict in Peshawar High Court.
PTI’s intraparty elections, in which Barrister Gohar Khan was elected as chairman of the party, were held on December 2.
The polls had drawn a sharp criticism as estranged PTI founding member Akbar S. Babar announced that he would challenge the entire process. He had alleged that the PTI had carried out a selection process aimed at throwing out party workers to give the reins to a few lawyers.
