PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday directed the ECP to decide matters related to PTI’s intra-party polls by Dec 22 (today) in “accordance with law”.

A bench consisting of Justice Syed Muhammad Attique Shah and Justice Shakeel Ahmad issued the order while disposing of a petition of the party, seeking it to declare illegal the delay by the ECP to post the certificate of the PTI’s elections on its website as required under Section 209 of the Elections Act, 2017.

The bench had stopped the ECP from issuing final order in a petition challenging the PTI’s intra-party polls on Dec 11. Subsequently, the court restrained the ECP on Dec 15 from deciding on its notice to the PTI’s chief election commissioner, wherein he was asked to appear before it in connection with certain issues related to the intra-party polls.

In the notice issued to PTI CEC Niazullah Khan Niazi on Dec 12, the ECP stated that prima facie, the PTI did not hold intra-party elections in accordance with the law and its constitution.

At Thursday’s hearing, the PTI chairman told the bench that Akbar S. Babar, who had challenged the intra-party polls, was neither a member of the party nor had anything to do with it. He added that the PTI’s polls were held under its constitution, while their results were announced on Dec 2.

When the bench inquired what would be the effect if the ECP didn’t publish the certificate on its website, the PTI chairman said that one of the major problems would be the non-provision of the electoral symbol of “bat” to the candidates of the PTI, and they would have to contest as independent candidates.

ECP lawyer Mohsin Kamran Siddique contended that the petition was not maintainable as the commission had not passed a final order, therefore the high court could not interfere in the jurisdiction of the ECP.

Meanwhile, Barrister Gohar while talking to media persons on the premises of the high court, said that they had also devised a plan “B” in case the said symbol was not allotted to the party.

The PTI chairman claimed that ex-prime minister Imran Khan would contest on three National Assembly seats from Lahore, Islamabad and Mianwali.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2023