LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on an intra court appeal (ICA) challenging the powers of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to withdraw the electoral symbol of a political party.

Earlier, the court asked the appellant’s counsel if he has approached the court on behalf of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), which lost its symbol following a decision by the ECP.

The lawyer said he assailed the powers of the ECP which indirectly dissolved PTI as a political party. A law officer however contended that the ECP decision to withdraw the electoral symbol from the PTI was a consequence of not holding the intra-party elections.

He pointed out that the PTI challenged the ECP decision before the Peshawar High Court, but did not assail Section 215 of the Election Act, 2017.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that Section 215 of the Elections Act 2017 which provides for eligibility of a party to obtain election symbols is against the Constitution. He contended that both a party and a candidate had a fundamental right to have an election symbol of choice. He pleaded that the right to contest the election under a common symbol cannot be taken away from the candidates of a political party.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024