“PTI bat symbol”: SC hears ECP’s appeal of the PHC ruling

PHC notifies ECP about PTI’s motion for contempt of court against the electoral body.

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) appeal against the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) decision to reinstate the bat as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) electoral symbol was heard by the Supreme Court on Friday.

Hearing the appeal of the electoral body is a three-judge panel of the highest court, led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and consisting of Justices Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Musarat Hilali.

The SC website and YouTube channel are providing live coverage of the case’s proceedings.

On Wednesday, the ECP order to revoke the election symbol “bat” and reject PTI intra-party elections was overruled by a two-member panel of the PHC.

Together with six other party leaders, PTI leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan filed a joint appeal in the high court asking for the ECP order to be ruled unlawful and without jurisdiction.

However, the ECP filed a petition with the Supreme Court on Thursday, requesting permission to appeal the PHC short order under Article 185(3) of the Constitution.

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In the appeal, the electoral board questioned whether the high court was correct in dismissing the writ petition with a brief order that lacked specific justification given the significance of the case.

In the meantime, the PHC served notice to the ECP over PTI’s motion to hold the electoral body in contempt of court for allegedly disobeying its directive on the intra-party polls.

The petition was heard by a two-judge panel made up of Justices Shakil Ahmad and Waqar Ahmad.

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Shah Faisal Ilyas and Qazi Muhammad Anwar, PTI attorneys, were in court.

Despite the PHC’s directive, the PTI claimed that the ECP had neglected to post the certificate of the party’s intra-party polling on its website.

The appeal stated that the ECP ruling from December 22, 2023, which declared the PTI’s intra-party elections illegitimate and stripped it of its electoral symbol, the “bat,” was declared illegal by the PHC on Wednesday.

Because the ECP disregarded the court’s orders, the PTI asked the court to start a contempt of court case against it.