Imran Khan's party suffers setback as Peshawar HC restores order stripping it of 'bat' symbol

ISLAMABAD: In a major blow to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), the Peshawar High Court on Wednesday restored the Election Commission of Pakistan's previous order stripping the party of its iconic 'bat' electoral symbol, Dawn reported. The Peshawar HC has restored the December 22 order which had deemed the PTI's intra-party polls "unconstitutional". The verdict, reserved earlier in the day, was announced by Justice Ejaz Khan on ECP's review petitions.

The decision is a big blow for the party which has alleged it is not being provided a level playing field in the run-up to the general election. On December 22, last year, the ECP had decided against letting PTI retain its electoral symbol for the February 8 election, saying that it had had failed to hold intra-party polls -- which saw Barrister Gohar Khan becoming the PTI chairman -- in accordance with its prevailing constitution and election laws, Dawn reported.

Subsequently, the PTI had approached the Peshawar HC. On December 26, the court suspended the ECP declaration till further notice and the revocation of the party's 'bat' symbol. It had also noted that general elections were scheduled for February 8 and the last date for allotment of election symbols was January 13. However, on December 30, the electoral watchdog filed a review petition in the Peshawar HC. At the previous hearing, ECP lawyers argued that the court had "overstepped its jurisdiction" by suspending the commission's declaration on PTI's intra-party polls and the subsequent revocation of its election symbol.

It said that the ECP had argued that it was not provided an opportunity of hearing, while the interim relief granted to the PTI amounted to "grant of final relief which is not permissible under the law", according to Dawn. The order said that the learned counsels for both the parties had raised substantial legal questions but the same could not be addressed by the court as the "main writ petition is pending adjudication before this court".

The HC further stated that the decision to suspend the ECP order was being recalled as it was passed without providing any opportunity of hearing to the ECP, it amounted to "final relief for all legal, factual and practical purposes", the aspect of its effectiveness beyond the court's territorial jurisdiction was not taken into consideration, and it had hindered the "smooth process" of the election process. "In view of the above, the interim order of this court passed in favour of the writ petitioner/PTI is hereby recalled/vacated and consequently the ECP is directed to proceed with the election process as per its constitutional mandate [...]," Dawn quoted the order.