PTI polls, ‘bat’: PHC hears ECP’s review plea today

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) will take up today the review petition of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against its decision that had annulled the intra-party election of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and revoked its election symbol bat. Justice Ijaz Khan will hear the petition.

On December 30, the ECP filed two applications in the high court. The PHC recently restored the election symbol of the PTI by suspending the notification of the election commission. In one application, the ECP requested the PHC to recall the interim relief granted to the PTI. In the second plea, the commission sought the formation of a two-member special bench to hear the case.

Mohsin Kamran Siddique representing the ECP filed the review in which the PTI was named respondent. The petition argues it was the responsibility of ECP as per Article 218-3 of the Constitution to ensure the holding of free, fair and transparent elections.

On December 26, the PHC suspended the ECP’s decision that had declared unconstitutional the PTI’s intra-party polls and had revoked its election symbol bat. The court had ordered the ECP to publish the PTI’s certificate on the commission’s website and restore its election symbol.

In its review petition, the ECP took the plea that the PHC’s verdict was against the law as well as the dictum laid down by the Supreme Court. According to the review petition, PHC’s powers were limited to its territorial jurisdiction whereas the PTI’s election symbol was to be allocated across the country.

The ECP had requested the PHC to constitute a special bench to hear its review petition. According to it, the high court had not issued notices to the respondents to hear their point of view and had given its verdict in favour of the PTI, adding that the ECP was a federal body, which could not be represented by the advocate general or additional advocate general.