The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday ruled that the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to reject the PTI’s intra-party polls and withdraw its “bat” electoral symbol was “illegal,” providing a huge reprieve ahead of the general elections on February 8.’
A two-member PHC bench comprising Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Arshad Ali announced the verdict today.
In the short order, the PHC said that the ECP order was “illegal, without any lawful authority and of no legal effect”.
Following the verdict, the court ordered the electoral watchdog to issue a certificate to the PTI and suspended the decision that stripped the party of its symbol.
“PTI is a political party entitled to an election symbol,” the court said.D
The court directed the PTI to publish the certificate filed by the PTI following internal polls on its website. “It is further held and declared that the PTI is entitled to the election symbol strictly in terms of Sections 215 and 217 read with any other enabling provision of the Election Act, 2017 and Election Rules, 2017,” it said.
On December 22, the election commission had decided against letting PTI retain its electoral symbol for the February 8 election, saying that it had failed to hold intra-party polls in accordance with its prevailing constitution and election laws.
The PTI had approached the PHC against the ECP order on Dec 26 and a single-member bench restored the electoral symbol of the party till January 9.
