PESHAWAR - Peshawar High Court (PHC) is set to review today the Election Commission of Pakistan’s petition challenging the court’s decision to nullify Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s intra-party election and revoke its election symbol, the bat.
Justice Ijaz Khan will preside over the hearing.
On December 30, the ECP had filed two applications in the high court after it restored PTI’s election symbol by suspending the ECP notification. The first application seeks the recall of the interim relief granted to the PTI, while the second plea requests the formation of a two-member special bench to hear the case. Representing the ECP, Mohsin Kamran Siddique filed the review petition, naming the PTI as the respondent. The petition argues that, as per Article 218-3 of the Constitution, it was the ECP’s responsibility to ensure the conduct of free, fair, and transparent elections. On December 26, the PHC suspended the ECP’s decision that deemed PTI’s intra-party polls unconstitutional and revoked its election symbol, directing the ECP to publish PTI’s certificate on its website and restore its election symbol. In its review petition, the ECP contends that the PHC’s verdict was contrary to the law and the Supreme Court’s precedent. The petition asserts that the PHC’s powers are limited to its territorial jurisdiction, while the allocation of the PTI’s election symbol extends nationwide.