PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) Tuesday adjourned the proceedings in the review petition by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against the court’s order to the electoral body for publishing PTI’s intra-party election certificate on its website for the next day.
Justice Ijaz Khan presided over the hearing today. Earlier, the court reserved its decision after hearing the counsel for the electoral body on the issue. However, the PTI legal team later informed the court that Barrister Gohar Khan and Barrister Ali Zafar were not available over which the hearing was adjourned for Wednesday.
The ECP had filed review petition challenging the court’s granting stay against ECP decision to nullify the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s intra-party election and revoking its election symbol, the bat.
On December 30, the ECP had filed two applications in the PHC after it restored PTI’s election symbol by suspending the ECP notification. The first application sought the recall of the interim relief granted to the PTI, while the second plea requested the formation of a two-member special bench to hear the case.
Mohsin Kamran Siddique filed the review petition on behalf of the ECP, naming the PTI as the respondent. The petition argued that, as per Article 218-3 of the Constitution, it was the ECP’s responsibility to ensure the conduct of free, fair, and transparent elections.
On December 26, the PHC suspended the ECP’s decision nullifying PTI’s intra-party polls as unconstitutional and revoked its election symbol. The court had also directed the ECP to publish PTI’s certificate on its website and restore its election symbol.
In its review petition, the ECP contended that the PHC’s verdict was contrary to the law and the Supreme Court’s precedent. The petition asserted that the PHC’s powers are limited to its territorial jurisdiction, while the allocation of the PTI’s election symbol extends countrywide.
