ECP decides to file intra-court appeal against PHC verdict in PTI poll symbol case

The Election Commission of Pakistan has decided to challenge the decision of the Peshawar High Court which suspended its declaration of the PTI’s intra-party polls as unconstitutional and the revocation of the party’s ‘bat’ election symbol, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The ECP took this decision during a meeting held in Islamabad under the chair of Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja on Friday.

The meeting decided to challenge the Peshawar High Court’s single-bench decision.

The commission will file an intra-court appeal in the IHC and beseech the court to void the single-bench’s stay order.

Sources said that the ECP is not appealing the verdict in the Supreme Court as there is a little chance that it will get relief from the apex court.

On Tuesday, IHC Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel announced the verdict shortly after reserving his order on a PTI petition against the ECP decision.

The court order said that general elections were scheduled for February 8 and the last date for allotment of election symbols was January 13.

It directed that notices be issued to all respondents for Jan 9 and suspended the ECP’s December 22 order. The court also ordered the ECP to publish the PTI’s certificate on the commission’s website and restore the party’s election symbol “keeping in view the urgency, that a political party has been denuded of its symbol, meaning hearby that aspirants from the general public who were willing to vote for the petitioners’ party were divested of their right to vote as per their choice”.

Reporter Usman Khan