The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has challenged the Peshawar High Court’s decision to instate the PTI’s election symbol – bat, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
In an intra-court appeal filed in PHC on Saturday, the ECP urged the high court to constitute a two-judge bench for hearing its appeal.
The ECP also prayed the court to review its verdict regarding PTI’s intra-party elections and election symbol.
On Tuesday last, the PHC had temporarily suspended the ECP’s decision which found PTI ineligible for an election symbol due to non-compliance with the party’s constitution and electoral laws. recognising the urgency and political ramifications involved.
PHC’s Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel had announced the verdict shortly after reserving his order on a PTI petition. The court order said that general elections were scheduled for Feb 8 and the last date for allotment of election symbols was Jan 13.
The court also ordered the ECP to publish the PTI’s certificate on the commission’s website and restore the party’s election symbol “keeping in view the urgency, that a political party has been denuded of its symbol, meaning hereby that aspirants from the general public who were willing to vote for the petitioners’ party were divested of their right to vote as per their choice”.
After days of deliberations, the ECP on Friday decided to challenge the decision of the Peshawar High Court which suspended its declaration of the PTI’s intra-party polls as unconstitutional and the revocation of the party’s ‘bat’ election symbol.
Sources said that the ECP was against appealing the verdict in the Supreme Court as there was a little chance that it will get relief from the apex court.
Reporters Amer Shahzad and Usman Khan