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The Peshawar High Court (PHC) is currently hearing the PTI’s petition against the Election Commission of Pakistan’s order revoking the party’s ‘bat’ electoral symbol and declaring its intra-party polls “unconstitutional”.
The hearing is taking place shortly after the party withdrew from the Supreme Court its appeal seeking the restoration of its electoral symbol. Speaking to the media outside the court, PTI leader Barrister Gohar said that the case in the PHC was heard all day yesterday and the hearing had been adjourned till today.
He said the PHC had stated that today, likely before 11am, an order would be issued.
“Keeping this in mind, the petition we had filed in the SC against the [PHC’s] interim order became infructuous […] Because the verdict in the main case is expected at any time today […] we have withdrawn the plea from the SC,” Gohar said.
He said that the PHC would issue the final verdict, saying, “We hope that the verdict will be based on justice and rights and that we will get the ‘bat’ symbol.”
On December 22, the Election Commission of Pakistan had decided against letting PTI retain its electoral symbol for the February 8 election, saying that it had failed to hold intra-party polls in accordance with its prevailing constitution and election laws.
The PTI had approached the PHC against the ECP order on Dec 26 and a single-member bench restored the electoral symbol of the party till January 9.
On Dec 30, the electoral watchdog had filed a review petition in the PHC, arguing that the court had overstepped its jurisdiction. Days later, in a major blow for the PTI, the high court had restored the ECP order, stripping the party of its symbol again. Subsequently, the PTI moved the Supreme Court against the restoration of the ECP ruling.
A day earlier, PTI counsel Barrister Ali Zafar had argued before the PHC that the electoral watchdog was “only a record keeper” and did not have the power to “snatch a party’s electoral symbol”.
After marathon arguments advanced by lawyers representing the PTI and the ECP for almost five hours, the bench had adjourned the hearing till today.
PHC’s Justice Ejaz Anwar and Justice Syed Arshad Ali presided over today’s hearing, where counsels of those challenging the PTI’s intra-party polls were to present their arguments.
PTI’s Zafar assured the PHC that the party would not pursue the case before the SC, after which it withdrew its petition filed earlier before the apex court.
More to follow
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