The lawyers representing the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) argued before the Peshawar High Court that a single-judge bench had exceeded its jurisdiction by suspending the ECP’s declaration regarding the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) intra-party polls and the subsequent withdrawal of the party’s election symbol, the ‘bat.’
ECP lawyers informed Justice Muhammad Ijaz Khan that the commission had been condemned unheard when another bench granted interim relief to the PTI by suspending the ECP’s declaration on December 26. The court issued notices to the petitioners, including PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and six other leaders, for a hearing scheduled on Wednesday.
The review application by the ECP sought the court to recall its December 26 order, arguing that the bench had issued it beyond its territorial jurisdiction. Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel had temporarily suspended the ECP’s decision, instructing the commission to publish PTI’s intra-party poll certificate on its website and restore the party’s election symbol, effective until January 9, 2024.
Advocates Sikander Bashir and Mohsin Kamran Siddique represented the ECP, stating that the PTI’s writ petition was heard on December 26 without issuing any notice to the ECP. Bashir argued that the interim order effectively decided the entire writ petition, granting final relief, which, according to him, was beyond the court’s authority under Article 199.
The bench observed that it would reserve an order but scheduled another hearing for Wednesday after a central leader of the Insaf Lawyers Forum pointed out that a notice had not been issued to the petitioners on the ECP’s application.
PTI Chairman Gohar Khan emphasized that despite concerns about the electoral process’s fairness, the party would not boycott the general elections. He criticized the ECP’s decision to deprive PTI of its traditional election symbol and highlighted the potential implications for the party’s representation in various elections.
Separately, PTI leader Hammad Azhar tweeted that the nomination papers of 700 party candidates in 420 constituencies had been rejected during the scrutiny process. He shared a list indicating that the nomination papers of PTI candidates in almost 120 National Assembly constituencies and nearly 300 provincial assembly constituencies had been rejected.
In addition, Advocate Naeem Ahmad Panjhota filed an appeal in the appellate tribunal against the rejection of his nomination papers from NA-82, PP-71, and PP-88.
