High Court in Pakistan restores ECP order stripping Imran Khan's party of ‘bat’ electoral symbol

The verdict, reserved earlier in the day, was announced by Peshawar High Court judge Ejaz Khan on the Election Commission of Pakistans review petitions.On December 22, the Election Commission of Pakistan ECP rejected PTIs organisational elections and deprived the party of its cricket bat symbol.

A high court in Pakistan on Wednesday restored the election commission's order suspending the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's organisational polls as void and revoking its iconic cricket bat electoral symbol, in a huge blow to jailed former premier Imran Khan’s embattled party. The verdict, reserved earlier in the day, was announced by Peshawar High Court judge Ejaz Khan on the Election Commission of Pakistan’s review petitions.

On December 22, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected PTI's organisational elections and deprived the party of its cricket bat symbol. Barrister Gohar Khan was elected as the party's new chairman in the internal elections in December.

The party, founded by Khan, a cricketer-turned-politician, challenged the verdict in the Peshawar High Court which on December 26 suspended the ECP’s declaration of the PTI's intra-party polls as unconstitutional as well as the subsequent revocation of the party’s iconic symbol. The election commission challenged the high court verdict.

During the hearing presided over by Justice Khan, PTI counsel Anwar said that the ECP was not a judicial institution, adding that seeking court intervention for or against its own verdict constituted contempt of court, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Anwar claimed that all parties, except the PPP, hatched a conspiracy to keep the PTI out of the electoral battle. He further asserted that the Constitution mandated free and fair elections.

On his part, the ECP lawyer said that the PTI had secured a stay order against the commission’s verdict. “We have the authority to file a writ,” he said.

After listening to the arguments, the court reserved its verdict.

A day earlier, the ECP counsel presented his arguments, while the PTI lawyers remained absent. Subsequently, the court issued a notice to the PTI for the completion of arguments.

The development has left the former ruling party, its candidates, and supporters in limbo in the wake of the upcoming elections slated for February 8.

But it is not the end of the story as the single bench of the PHC also announced that the fate of the case would be decided by a two-member panel on January 9. After the PHC’s final judgment, the matter would finally land in the Supreme Court, which would ultimately decide if the PTI would get the cricket bat as its symbol. Commenting on the new development, PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan said that it showed that the ECP was biased. “Depriving the PTI of bat will leave a question mark on the legitimacy of the elections,” he said.

He also announced to take the matter to the Supreme Court on Thursday so that the controversy could be settled.

To a question, he said that if the ‘bat’ was not given to the party, all its candidates would contest as independents but the party would not run away from the elections.

Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat) President Ahmed Bilal Mehboob termed the court’s earlier verdict as “defective” and stressed that the PHC had not only ignored the jurisdiction matter but also hadn’t heard the electoral body’s counsel on the said issue, Geo News reported.

When asked whether Khan’s party can obtain another common electoral symbol — other than bat — for the polls, Mehboob said: “PTI cannot contest elections on any common electoral symbol [...] every candidate will contest the polls independently with different symbols.” ''It would be difficult to ascertain who are PTI’s candidates,” he noted.

When asked whether PTI can be counted out of the polls, he said that the party has a history of bouncing back from setbacks and that it can still utilise its social media presence to effectively publicise its candidates and their symbols.

On Monday, Gohar Khan said that his party will participate in the general elections even without getting the cricket 'bat' as its electoral symbol.

''Even if we do not get the bat symbol, we will still participate in the elections.