The ECP counsel was not in the counsel since the commission had not be issued a notice for the hearing
PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD: In a major legal victory for the beleaguered PTI throwing the rival parties off balance, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) Tuesday suspended the Election Commission’s verdict that declared the party’s intraparty elections null and void and deprived it of the election symbol “bat”.
“The general elections are going to take place across the country on February 8, 2024 while a political party is not being allotted its election symbol despite the fact that the last date for the allotment of election symbol is January 13,” said the court in its short order.
Issuing notices to the respondents, a single-member bench — comprising Justice Kamran Hayat — said the writ petition would be placed before a division bench for hearing after the winter vacation.
Barrister Gohar Ali, Barrister Ali Zafar, Qazi Mohammad Anwar, Sikandar Hayat Shah Advocate, Shah Faisal Uthmankhel, Nauman-ul-Haq Kakakhel and others appeared before the court on behalf of the PTI and made arguments in the case.
The ECP counsel was not in the counsel since the commission had not be issued a notice for the hearing.
It may be recalled that the ECP in its December 22 verdict declared the PTI intraparty election null and void and deprived it of the election symbol “bat.”
The ECP is not a trial court and it is not authorised to give such a verdict, the PTI lawyers told the court, saying various decisions of the Supreme Court were available on record.
They said the ECP had no right to declare the election of a political party null and void. They said the intraparty election took place in Peshawar on December 2 and the ECP termed them valid, but later objections were raised about the appointment of the chief election commissioner for the intraparty election.
The lawyers pointed out that the ECP had stated in its verdict that Omer Ayub Khan was not the secretary general and hence he could not make any appointment, adding that even if there were errors in appointments, the polls could not be challenged.
They contended that the ECP’s proceedings were without jurisdiction and without lawful authority. Barrister Ali Zafar and Barrister Gohar Ali told the court that it was unjust on part of the ECP, which declared the PTI’s intraparty election null and void and stripped the party of its election symbol “bat.”
They said the PTI was the largest political party in the country and a political party became ineffective after losing its election symbol.
They requested the court to suspend the ECP’s judgment or else the PTI would not be able to contest the upcoming polls and it would have to field its candidates as independents.
They told the court that the Supreme Court had given many judgments according to which a political party could not be deprived of its election symbol.
The election symbol was the basic requirement of a political party which helped it unite its workers, they said, adding the ECP had overstepped its authority in a bid to keep the PTI out of the election.
The lawyers said the PTI had fulfilled all the requirements but despite that it was not issued the certificate, which was necessary for the allotment of the election symbol.
Barrister Gohar asked what would happen to the reserved seats if the party was stopped from participating in elections under its designated symbol.
At the outset of the hearing, Additional Attorney General Sanaullah Khan told the court that the case should be heard after the winter vacation.
Justice Kamran Hayat asked him about the number of registered political parties in the country to which he replied that there were 175 political parties registered with the ECP.
Justice Kamran Hayat asked him whether the ECP had issued a notice to any other political party to which the additional attorney general replied that the ECP had the authority to decide against a political party, which did not submit complete documents regarding the intraparty election.
Justice Kamran said the PTI contested the 2018 general election, held the intraparty election and submitted the certificate, which meant it was a registered political party.
He said the court wanted the ECP to ensure free, fair and transparent election.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court suspended the decision of the ECP and issued notices to the respondents.
Meanwhile, PTI founding member Akbar S. Babar hinted at challenging the Peshawar High Court (PHC) order suspending the Election Commission’s verdict on the party’s intra-party polls.
In a statement, he said the real question before the higher judiciary was to either condone what the PTI lawyer Senator Ali Zafar argued before the ECP that ‘PTI is a private entity’ whose intra-party elections were synonymous to the elections held by Lahore Gymkhana Club, or that the PTI and other political parties were public entities and could not be allowed to usurp the fundamental rights of their members to elect credible and competent leadership anymore.
In this disregard, the PHC order would, in all likelihood, be challenged at all appropriate judicial forums for which discussions are ongoing. The fundamental question at hand today, he pointed out, is not the allotment of a party symbol but the larger question of building the foundations of democracy upon which a solid democratic structure could be built that can deliver to society and meet its expectations. “Our democracy is in name only where political parties are in total and absolute control of individuals and families who use them to climb to power,” he argued.