PTI to move court for ‘bat’ symbol

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Gohar Ali Khan warned Saturday that if the elections are not held in a fair and transparent manner, there will be chaos, which the country can’t afford.

Talking to journalists outside the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, Gohar said that PTI founder Imran Khan has asked to challenge the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for which consultations were held. It is to be decided if the decision will be challenged in the Supreme Court or high court. “We hope the judiciary will restore our bat symbol. Consultation has been completed and we will challenge the decision of Election Commission on Tuesday.”

Barrister Gohar said the election symbol bat has been withdrawn from the PTI as part of a conspiracy. “We will challenge the ECP decision in the court and we will get relief,” he remarked.

The ECP, he pointed out, previously said that the intra-party polls were not held as per law and now they mentioned in the order that the person who conducted the poll exercise, was not mandated to do so. He claimed there were contradictions in the ECP order and that it was not sustainable.

Replying to a question, he said that Imran Khan was the PTI leader and will remain the leader, adding, “We will definitely get the election symbol. We reject the decision of Election Commission. Appeal can be filed in the Supreme Court under Article 184. Both the Supreme Court and high court are the options. If the election symbol is denied, then the seats will go to independent candidates.”

Gohar Khan said the PTI founder boycotted the hearing at one time. This trial is being run illegally and orders of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) are being violated. All this is being done to keep the PTI out of politics.

“Our candidates will continue to file nomination papers and show PTI as their party,” he made it clear.

Gohar said that efforts should be made to make elections free and fair, adding that if an election symbol is withdrawn from one party, it will harm democracy. The PTI candidates are not being allowed to submit nomination papers.

“We will challenge the decision of Election Commission. We request the judiciary to fix our petition for early hearing while ECP has not yet provided us certified copies [of the verdict[ due to holidays.”

He said he sat on the same chair after the ECP order to carry out his party job and was confident that the PTI would get relief from the judiciary and their poll symbol would be resorted.

Separately, talking to The News, Barrister Gohar said the party would move the Supreme Court or Peshawar High Court (PHC) against the ECP decision.

“The ECP decision is too weak and full of flaws. It disappointed and hurt us all,” he said, adding that they had Plan-B to tackle the emerging situation for the party in a befitting manner. He said they had asked their candidates to submit nomination papers and gear up for electioneering for the upcoming polls. He said that they had trust in courts and hoped the judiciary would provide justice in this matter.

On Friday, in a major setback for the PTI, the ECP revoked the party’s bat electoral symbol over irregularities and discrepancies in the intra-party polls — which it declared “null and void” in its verdict.

Meanwhile, the Registrar’s office of the Supreme Court returned with objections the appeal filed by Imran Khan against his conviction in the Toshakhana case.

Meanwhile, the prosecution’s key witnesses, including ex-premier Imran Khan’s principal secretary Azam Khan and then ambassador to the US Asad Majeed Khan, recorded their statements in the cipher case.

Former executive magistrate Ubaid Arshad, assistant cipher operation Nauman and Ministry of Interior secretary Aftab Ahmed Khan also recorded their statements before Special Court Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, who presided over the open-trial hearing in the Rawalpindi Central Jail.

Imran Khan’s wife, his sisters, along with former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s family, were present in the courtroom.

Before the hearing, the prosecution brought forth 22 prosecution witnesses. These include Azam Khan, Sohail Mehmood, Asad Majeed, Hidayatullah, Muhammad Ashfaq, Hidayatullah Batini, Haseeb Gohar, Nadir Khan, Shamoon Abbas, Farrukh Abbas, Ayoub Chaudhry, Aftab Akbar Durrani, Adnan Arshad, Shujaat, Afzal, Jawaid, Abdul Jabbar, Ubaid Arshad Bhatti, Faisal Niaz, Nauman Ullah, Sajid Mehmood and Muhammad Nauman.

Meanwhile, the counsel for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has diverted the attention of Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and judges of the Supreme Court towards intimidation of his clerk on the premises of the court and called for initiating criminal proceedings against the individuals for their attempted abduction, confiscation of personal belongings and explicit threats directed towards him.