ISLAMABAD: Advocate Salman Akram Raja, who aspires to contest the upcoming general elections from the National Assembly constituency NA-128 Lahore, approached the Supreme Court on Friday to seek recognition that he is contesting the polls as a PTI ticket holder and not as an independent candidate.
He filed a petition under Article 185(3) of the Constitution seeking leave to appeal against the Lahore High Court (LHC) verdict passed on January 25. He made the ECP, its secretary and NA-128 returning officer as respondents.
In the petition, Raja submitted that although the PTI had been deprived of a single symbol for all its candidates by the ECP, its existence and functioning as a political party remained unaffected.
The candidate has challenged the Jan 25, 2024 rejection of his plea stating that the high court’s decision was contrary to the facts and the applicable law, illegal, unlawful, violative of the fundamental rights as guaranteed under Article 17(2) of the Constitution.
The petitioner pleaded that though PTI has been deprived of a single symbol for all its candidates by ECP, its existence and functioning as a political party remain unaffected. The party continues to exist and has not been dissolved.
Therefore, the fact that PTI candidates may not have a single symbol does not imply that they have ceased to be party candidates.
The treatment being meted out to the petitioner since he has been categorised as independent candidate by Form 33 as well as the Explanation to Rule 94 of the Election Act is unlawful, illegal, and liable to be set aside and declared ultra vires to the Constitution, the petition argued. The same was challenged by the petitioner before the Lahore High Court (LHC).
