PESHAWAR: In a major relief ahead of the February 8 general elections, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday restored the decision to allow the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to have bat as electoral symbol.

A two-member Peshawar High Court bench comprising Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Arshad Ali announced the verdict.

The short order consisted of three points, according to which the December 22 order of the Election Commission of Pakistan is unconstitutional which revoked the PTI’s “bat” electoral symbol and rejected its intra-party polls.

The court directed the ECP to restore the PTI’s “bat” symbol and upload the party’s internal poll certificate on its website.

The decision came shortly after the party withdrew from the Supreme Court its appeal seeking the restoration of its electoral symbol.

The decision means the court has undone the Election Commission of Pakistan’s order stripping the PTI of bat.

Declaring as unconstitutional the ECP’s decision of revoking the “bat” electoral symbol and rejecting its intra-party polls, the court directed the electoral body to give the PTI its iconic “bat” symbol back and upload the certificate of internal elections on its website.

At the outset of the hearing, one of the petitioner’s lawyer Advocate Qazi Jawwad said that his client sought information from the PTI’s head office regarding intra-party polls, but did not get any response.

However, he said he learned about the PTI’s polls through the media.

“My client wanted to participate in the elections but was not given the opportunity,” the counsel said adding that his client requested that the polls be declared “null and void.”

Justice Anwar remarked: “You did not say that the intra-party elections should be held again. If the Election Commission annulled the intra-party elections, you should have called for re-elections.”

The judger further told the lawyer that his client should have objected to withdrawal of the party symbol if he belonged to the party, but he didn’t do so.

The lawyer also objected to the PHC hearing the case citing its provincial jurisdiction as a limitation, as PTI’s intra-party elections were conducted for the whole country and not just Peshawar.

Justice Arshad questioned the lawyer how can a case not be filed in Peshawar, if the polls were held in the city.

Justice Ijaz remarked that the PTI’s intra-party polls were held in Peshawar, which were annulled by the ECP. “The jurisdiction of the high court has been determined in various decisions of the courts. PTI also went to the Lahore High Court, where their petition was rejected,” the lawyer replied.

“The Lahore High Court said that let the Peshawar High Court decide,” Justice Ijaz remarked.

Commenting on the matter of the electoral symbol, Justice Arshad asked: “Can a political party contest election without electoral symbol?”

The lawyer responded that a similar instance happened in 1985.

“At that time there was martial law,” Justice Arshad remarked, responding to which the lawyer said everything was done in a legal framework.

Lawyer Tariq Afridi, who was representing one of the parties in the case, argued about the jurisdiction of the court.

But the court told him he could argue on that if he had any other points to raise, as the lawyer before him also argued on the same matter.

The counsel then began arguing on the bat symbol and said that it was not the party’s symbol before its formation.

He also spoke about the party being a “favourite” since its launch and continues to be one till date.

He added that a level playing field should be given to party workers too. The lawyer also argued that his client believes symbols being changed is not a big deal.

Addressing one of the petitioners, Justice Arshad asked under which section has the ECP taken action against the PTI.

The lawyer responded saying that the proceedings are carried under Section 215 of the Election Act.

The court remarked that the election result was submitted within seven days.

“The Election Commission of Pakistan should have observed that intra-party elections were held under Section 208,” the lawyer said.

PTI lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar, in response, submitted that the petitioner’s complaint is based on bad faith.

“The complainant wants to end the party, not re-election,” he said.

The lawyer also argued on the jurisdiction of the petition and said that the ECP’s decision can challenged anywhere.

Speaking to the media after the verdict was announced, PTI Senator Ali Zafar congratulated the nation and said the court had upheld its practice of taking decisions on the basis of justice and law.

“The court has declared as unconstitutional the ECP’s Dec 22 order under which the electoral body had illegally snatched our symbol, and directed that the bat be returned to the PTI,” he said.

“After this, no one can stop the PTI from winning elections,” Zafar asserted.

While recalling the case history, the lawyer said that neither the Elections Act nor the Constitution empowered the ECP to revoke any political party’s symbol.

“Article 17 [of the Constitution] says that an electoral symbol cannot be taken from any party because it renders the party redundant,” he highlighted.

He lamented that the ECP had become an opponent of the PTI but asserted that the party was ready to face whatever may come. “The entire nation was praying and waiting for this verdict. Today we thank them for their support,” he said.

Zafar added that some people, who had claimed to be “members of the party”, actually wanted the “bat” symbol to be revoked. “But after today’s verdict, all other things have become infructuous,” he said.

The senator further stated that if the ECP failed to restore the “bat” symbol on its website in 15 minutes, then it would amount to contempt of court. “Neither the court nor the nation would tolerate this,” he said.

Senior PTI leader Barrister Gohar Khan termed the PHC verdict “historic.” Speaking to the media in Rawalpindi, he said that the ‘bat’ was more than just an electoral symbol.

According to Khan, the PHC’s verdict was a crucial step in ensuring free and fair polls. He criticised the ECP, claiming it attempted to thwart the PTI on all fronts, which had resulted in denying the party’s right to retain its symbol and potentially losing 227 reserved seats.

Khan highlighted the potential consequences, saying that 807 PTI candidates for general seats would have been forced to contest polls as independents, which would have led to corruption.

He argued that no constitution permitted the withdrawal of an electoral symbol from any political party and insisted that only the PTI was being targeted.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024