On Thursday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) took a step further by approaching the Supreme Court (SC) to challenge the Peshawar High Court’s decision allowing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to retain its electoral symbol.
In their plea, the ECP is urging the apex court to overturn the PHC verdict, citing it as being against the ‘constitution’.
The decision to move the Supreme Court was made after a consultative meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja.
Following the meeting, the election commission’s legal team commenced the preparation of the petition to be submitted to the Supreme Court, following the directive from the ECP officials.
Simultaneously, the caretaker information minister held a meeting with election commission officials, which included the four members of the commission and the ECP legal team.
Earlier in the week, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) successfully regained the ‘bat’ as its election symbol after the Peshawar High Court nullified the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) order to strip the party of using the ‘bat’ symbol.
The PHC, in a two-member bench comprising Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Arshad Ali, not only reversed the ECP’s decision but also directed the electoral body to upload PTI’s certificate on its website.
This legal battle ensued after the ECP declared PTI’s intra-party election null and void and revoked its electoral symbol ‘bat’, a decision that was later challenged by PTI in the Peshawar High Court.
The PHC initially revoked the stay order, restoring the ECP’s decision, but the recent verdict has once again favored PTI, allowing it to contest elections with the ‘bat’ symbol.
