A high court in Pakistan on Wednesday restored the top election commission’s order suspending the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s intra-party polls as void and revoking its iconic cricket bat electoral symbol, in a major blow to 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, the Dawn newspaper reported.
On December 22, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected PTI’s intra-party 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 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 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.
