ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday approached the Supreme Court against the Peshawar High Court (PHC)‘s decision to restore “cricket bat” as the PTI’s electoral symbol.

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, and comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali will hear the ECP’s appeal today (Friday).

Following the PHC ruling, the “bat” electoral symbol was returned to PTI.

PHC directs ECP to hand PTI back its bat symbol

The apex court has allotted a number to the ECP’s appeal.

In the petition, the electoral watchdog contends that the high court’s decision was in violation of the Constitution and the law.

The PHC had a day earlier annulled the ECP’s ruling revoking the party’s electoral symbol citing irregularities in the PTI’s intra-party polls.

In the short order, the high court said that the watchdog’s order was “illegal, without any lawful authority and of no legal effect”.

The court had further instructed the ECP to publish the certificate submitted by the PTI after its internal polls on the commission’s website. Moreover, it had affirmed the PTI’s entitlement to the election symbol in accordance with sections 215 and 217, along with other applicable provisions of the Election Act, 2017, and Election Rules, 2017.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024