PHC restores the electoral symbol and provides PTI with some solace

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was given temporary reprieve by the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday. This allowed the party to once again use the “bat” as its electoral symbol until the electoral Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) order barring intra-party polls was finally decided upon.

The court postponed the hearing until the conclusion of the winter break while announcing that a decision on PTI’s plea will be deferred. The ECP’s order calling the intra-party polling “illegal” had been suspended.

The court announced that the case will be taken up by a two-member bench.

On December 22, the electoral body removed the party’s recognizable “bat” symbol, which represents Imran Khan’s previous career as a cricket player, from the party. This decision was made in response to a petition filed by former PTI leader Akbar S. Babar, who argued that the intra-party elections should have followed the rules.

Barrister Gohar Ali Khan of the PTI responded to the news by saying that the PHC’s decision “put the final nail in conspirators’ coffin”.

He claimed that the light of today’s PHC verdict, the plots against the PTI were exposed.

“The PTI was being cornered and the suspension of the ECP’s verdict was necessary,” he stated.

According to him, the nation’s trust in the courts has been restored, along with the election symbol. He said, “The court has suspended the ECP’s order and reviewed the entire set of regulations.”

In the spirit of justice, he encouraged the ECP to promptly post the PTI’s certificate on its website, reinstate the party’s election symbol, and take decisive action to ensure a fair election.

Barrister Khan further expressed the expectation that the next hearing will result in the nullification of the ECP decision announcing the PTI’s electoral symbol and intra-party polls.

After the hearing, PTI’s attorney, Barrister Ali Zafar, spoke to the media and praised the PHC’s decision, stating that the high court upheld the legal system’s established procedures.

He claims that both the election symbol and the public’s faith in the legal system have returned. He said, “The court has suspended the ECP’s order and reviewed the entire set of regulations.”

He urged the ECP to act in a just manner by swiftly posting the PTI’s certificate on its website, reintroducing the party’s election symbol, and taking decisive measures to guarantee a fair election.

Barrister Khan further stated that he anticipates the outcome of the next hearing being the revocation of the ECP ruling revealing the PTI’s election symbol and internal polling.

Barrister Ali Zafar, the PTI’s lawyer, addressed the media following the hearing and applauded the PHC’s ruling, saying that the high court maintained the established processes of the legal system.

The plea was heard by a single bench under the direction of Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel.

PTI attorney Ali Zafar stated at the beginning of the hearing that the party was granted 20 days to organize elections and that on December 2 in Peshawar, it conducted internal party votes. The ECP granted the party a certificate after recognizing the validity of the intra-party elections.

Later, the ECP removed the electoral emblem in protest to the party’s election commissioner, according to the PTI’s legal representative.

He declared, “The ECP’s order is illegal and unconstitutional,” adding that since their symbol was removed, they were unable to run for office as a political party and would therefore forfeit the reserved seats that were allotted to political parties.

In support of this, he cited a Supreme Court decision.

According to the attorney, Article 17 of the Constitution guarantees everyone the freedom to organize into a union or group and to choose their own representatives. He said that the ECP questioned the general secretary’s appointment process for the chief election commissioner.

Ali Zafar added that the election emblem was a key component of Article 17 according to the supreme court.

He said that the ECP lacked the jurisdiction to contest party executives’ elections. He insisted that the commission was therefore unable to void the party elections and that doing so would be in violation of Article 17 if the electoral authority was granted this jurisdiction.

The party filed a plea today requesting an urgent hearing on the case, and it identified the ECP and individuals who had challenged the party elections as respondents.

According to the plea, the ECP lacked the power to determine how intra-party elections should be conducted. It further stated that the complainant who contested the intra-party polls was not a party member.

“The ECP withdrew the electoral symbol ‘bat’,” it stated, requesting that a senior judge-led bench be assembled and that the case be heard on Tuesday (today).

The PTI asked the court to hold the contested order without jurisdiction, without legal power, and illegitimate, and to immediately set it aside as a result.

Additionally, the PTI begged that the ECP’s actions to challenge the IPEs’ legality on the grounds that any objections submitted by anyone were unlawful, unconstitutional, and without proper authority.

“Discover and proclaim that the ‘election symbol’ has been illegally and unlawfully removed, which is, among other things, a breach of the petitioners’ fundamental rights as guaranteed by Article 17 and Article 25 of the constitution.”

In the interest of justice and to restore its electoral symbol, the PTI requested that the court order the ECP to immediately “publish the certificates of PTI on its website of ECP as required by 209 (3).”

Following the December 2 PTI intraparty elections, former party member Akbar S. Babar filed a motion with the electoral body to challenge the polls