Pakistan: PTI moves SC to save 'bat' electoral symbol

Islamabad [Pakistan], January 4 : The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday approached the Supreme Court (SC) against the Peshawar High Court's (PHC) decision to restore an Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ruling revoking the party's 'bat' electoral symbol over discrepancies in holding intra-party elections, Dawn newspaper reported.
The petition has been fixed for a hearing for tomorrow (Friday).
The ECP on December 22, stripped the PTI of its electoral symbol for the February 8 election, saying that it 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.
The PTI had approached the PHC against the decision of the ECP and on December 26, a single-member bench of the high court ordered a temporary suspension of the ECP's decision, instructing the commission to publish PTI's intra-party poll certificate on its website and restore the party's election symbol 'bat'. That order had to remain in effect till January 9, as per Dawn.
The ECP then filed an intra-court appeal in the PHC against the verdict. The commission's 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.
A day earlier, the PHC had accepted the commission's review plea and decided that the high court's interim order on December 26 was an "ex parte order" as the same was passed without providing any opportunity for a hearing to the commission.
The order said: "Under the election laws, the whole exercise of holding and conducting an election i.e. right from the issuance of notification of holding an election till the publication of names of the successful; candidates in the official gazette, is a time-bound exercise, therefore, the said order has prima facie created hindrance in the smooth process of the election which is to be conducted by the ECP [...] on February 8."
"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 as well as various orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan passed in respect of the ensuing election and it shall ensure to conduct and hold free, fair and transparent election," it added, as per Dawn.
The court further said that the grievance of the petitioner as agitated in the main writ petition was to be considered and finally adjudicated upon by this court on the date fixed (January 9). It ruled that the said interim order, prima facie, amounted to the grant of final relief for all the legal, factual and practical purposes.
"While passing the said order, an aspect of its effectiveness beyond the territorial jurisdiction of this court was not taken into consideration," the order said.
The PTI petition filed today, named the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), PTI founding member Akbar S. Babar and 13 others, who had approached the electoral watchdog against the party's intra-party polls, as respondents.
The plea argued that the interim relief originally granted by the PHC was given after hearing the ECP, which was reflected in the court's December 26 order, therefore yesterday's PHC verdict was "not sustainable".