ECP challenged Peshawar High Court verdict of restoring ‘bat’ symbol in SC

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday challenged the Peshawar High Court (PHC) decision of restoring PTI’s bat symbol and issuing the PTI a valid party certificate for February 8 General Elections.

The ECP in its petition stated that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) was failed to hold its intra-party elections as per the Election Act 2017,therefore Peshawar High Courts’ decision to publishing PTI certificate and reinstating ‘bat’ symbol should be declared void.

An Apex Court , 3-member bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa include Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musrat Hilali will hold the hearing tomorrow.

Yesterday , Peshawar High Court declared ECP’s verdict “illegal”, which revoked the PTI’s ‘bat’ electoral symbol and reject its intra-party polls.

In the short order, the PHC said that the ECP order was “illegal, without any lawful authority and of no legal effect”. The court also instructed the ECP to publish the certificate submitted by PTI after its internal polls on the commission’s website.

A two-judge bench of Peshawar High Court, including Justice Arshad Ali and Justice Ijaz Anwar, heard the appeal.

Read Also : Peshawar High Court (PHC) reinstates PTI’s ‘bat’ symbol

On the other end, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) filed a contempt of court petition against Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for not following Peshawar High Court verdict as ECP did not issue/upload the PTI certificate for contesting February 8 General Elections.

The party has named Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja, ECP members and secretary as the respondents in the contemp case.

The Election Commission of Pakistan alloted election symbols to all political parties, except the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), contesting the 2024 general elections.