There’s been a lot of “bat blood” between the PTI and the Election Commission over the past few days, and the controversy over the party’s election symbol seems all set to land in the Supreme Court.

However, as the Election Commission prepares to challenge the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) decision to restore PTI’s symbol, experts are divided on whether the top court will entertain the ECP’s petition to overturn this order.

The controversy stems from the ECP’s earlier decision to strip PTI of its symbol following the annulment of its intra-party elections for not complying with the Elections Act and the party’s own constitution.

Kanwar Dilshad, a former ECP secretary, defended this move, suggesting that the PTI failed to adhere to its constitution’s prescribed procedures for conducting internal polls.

Experts divided on how Supreme Court will react to ECP’s proposed appeal against high court’s order restoring PTI’s symbol

He said the ECP could withhold the ‘bat’ symbol since the PTI could not justify the source of funding and believed that the electoral watchdog had a strong case for the apex court.

On the contrary, legal and constitutional experts, including former high court judge Justice Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi, argued that such technicalities shouldn’t warrant the loss of a party’s symbol, as it contradicted the essence of Article 17 of the Constitution and previous Supreme Court orders.

Mr Rizvi said Article 17 guarantees citizens the right to form and join political parties, with symbols playing a key role in voter recognition, especially in rural areas. Therefore, a party’s symbol, being its hallmark, could not be taken away due to technicalities, he said.

The Supreme Court in the case of Nawaz Sharif, Watan Party and many other instances had developed the jurisprudence related to election matters, he said, adding that the Peshawar High Court granted interim relief to the PTI in accordance with the legal precedents and constitutional provisions.

Similarly, legal expert Adnan Haider Randhawa expressed scepticism about the Supreme Court reversing the PHC’s order.

ECP’s ‘cover-up’

Meanwhile, a senior ECP official said the PHC had issued a restraining order without hearing the ECP; therefore, the commission reserved the right to challenge the same before the Supreme Court.

Sources in the ECP said that the commission did not allot the ‘bat’ symbol to the PTI since the party allegedly did not comply with Section 209 of the Elections Act, 2017, regarding intra-party polls.

Under this section, the political party is supposed to provide the ECP with a certificate that “the elections were held in accordance with the constitution of the political party and this [Elections] Act.”

ECP sources said that out of 175 enlisted political parties, the Election Commission had withheld symbols from 27, indicating that PTI was not the only party affected.

They said this was a routine matter and smaller political parties generally re-submit the documentation for their intra-party elections after rectifying loopholes identified by the commission.

The commission asserted that its decision to deprive the PTI of its poll symbol was in line with the Elections Act and that it retains the right to pursue the matter before a higher forum.

However, Mr Randhawa said the ECP had never scrutinised the intra-party elections of major political parties and withholding the symbol of small parties appeared to be a cover-up to legitimise the ruling against PTI.

‘Correction of glaring irregularity’

PTI spokesman Shoaib Shaheen, also a senior lawyer, also argued that the Supreme Court might not entertain the ECP’s appeal against the PHC decision. He criticised the ECP’s actions as based on “frivolous” complaints from individuals not affiliated with the party.

Mr Shaheen suggested that even if the intra-party election annulment was justified, the ECP could have only imposed a fine as per Section 208 instead of depriving the party of its iconic symbol. According to Mr Shaheen, this action contradicted the Supreme Court’s directives to ensure a level playing field.

The PTI considers the PHC’s decision to be a correction of a glaring irregularity by the ECP. The party views the loss of its symbol as an unjust move, potentially impacting its standing in the elections.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2023