Imran Khan's party moves Supreme Court in last bid to save cricket bat election symbol

Lahore: In a last-ditch bid, jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan's party on Thursday approached the Supreme Court challenging a High Court verdict which restored the election commission's order suspending its organisational polls as void and revoking its iconic cricket bat electoral symbol.

The petition was filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party after the Peshawar High Court (PHC) restored the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) order on Wednesday, and the Lahore High Court (LHC) dismissed its plea challenging the electoral watchdog's decision on Thursday.

It has been fixed for hearing on Friday, the Dawn newspaper reported.

On December 22, the ECP rejected PTI's intra-party elections and deprived the party of its cricket bat symbol. Barrister Gohar Khan was elected as the party's new chairman in the internal elections in December.

The party, founded by Imran Khan, a cricketer-turned-politician, challenged the verdict in the PHC, which on December 26, suspended the ECP’s declaration of the PTI's intra-party polls as unconstitutional as well as the subsequent revocation of the party’s iconic symbol. The election commission challenged the high court verdict.

On Wednesday, the PHC restored the top election body's order suspending the party's organisational polls as void and revoking its iconic cricket bat electoral symbol.

The petition filed by the PTI in the Supreme Court on Thursday argued that the interim relief granted originally by the PHC was given after hearing the ECP, which was reflected in the court’s December 26 order and, therefore, Wednesday's verdict by the court was “not sustainable”.

The petition termed the PHC’s Wednesday order as “too harsh, irrational and unreasonable to be sustained”, according to the report.

Calling its verdict “misconceived”, the petition stated that the court had not disposed of the entire matter, and the relief granted by the PHC was not “final” as the order was only operative till January 9, when a two-member panel would decide the case's fate.

Contending that the high court’s jurisdiction extended to examining the validity of the orders passed by the ECP, the petition said that the polls body did not have the jurisdiction to challenge the “internal appointments” of PTI officials or set aside the party’s organisational elections and declare them void.

The petition said the ECP was not a “court of law”, reiterating that it could not question the appointments made by a political party or examine the validity of intra-party polls.

The plea further contended that by denying the PTI its election symbol, the election commission had made the party “dysfunctional and has violated Article 17 of the Constitution”.

Urging the court to restore the "interim relief", the petition said that the right to contest an election under a common symbol could not be taken away, even by the ECP.

“It is, therefore, most respectfully prayed that this court may kindly be pleased to grant leave to appeal against the impugned order, set the same aside and restore the interim relief in the interest of justice,” it said, according to the report.

The development has left the former ruling party, its candidates, and supporters in limbo in the wake of the upcoming general elections slated for February 8.

Earlier in the day, Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Jawad Hassan declared PTI leader Umar Aftab Dhillon’s petition inadmissible, Geo News reported.

During the hearing on Wednesday, the PTI lawyer urged the LHC to rescind the apex poll body's order and direct it to publish the PTI’s certificate for the intra-party election on its website.

He claimed that the 'bat' symbol was illegally withdrawn as the matter of organisational elections did not fall within the jurisdiction of the electoral body, the report said.

He said the ECP was not a court of law, and it could not question the validity of appointments within a party or intra-party election.

The PTI lawyer claimed that various tactics were being adopted to create hurdles for the party candidates, as first they were being stopped from filing nomination papers and then were not being allowed to use the ‘bat’ symbol.

The government’s counsel rendered the plea non-maintainable, stating the PTI leader was not directly affected, the report said.

Given the PHC's order, the party’s candidates would now have to contest elections “independently”, Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, chief of the think tank Pildat, told Geo News.

Talking to reporters in Rawalpindi on Wednesday, PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Khan said the Supreme Court "would not let this matter slide", according to the report.

"The Supreme Court has already stated that revoking a party's symbol is tantamount to disbanding the entire party," he said, hoping that his party would get relief from the top court.

Gohar noted that all PTI ticket holders would run as independent candidates if the apex court did not accept the party's plea. However, he said the PHC's verdict has "damaged" democracy.

"If the election commission has an issue with the 'bat', then it can allow us another symbol," he was quoted as saying in the report.

On Monday, Gohar Khan said his party would participate in the general elections, even without getting the cricket 'bat' as its electoral symbol.

"Even if we do not get the bat symbol, we will still participate in the elections. PTI will not boycott the elections under any circumstances,” he said.

His remarks came as the PTI faced unusual pressure to get fair treatment in the run-up to the elections. The party ran into trouble after the May 9 violence when its supporters attacked key military installations following the arrest of Imran Khan in an alleged corruption case.