Restoration of election symbol bat: PHC to take up PTI’s petition today

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) will take up today (Tuesday) the writ petition of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) seeking the restoration of its election symbol bat.

Two-member PHC bench consisting of Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Syed Arshad Ali will hear the petition. The PTI has filed the petition challenging the non-issuance of certificate by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and declaring its intra-party election as null and void.

It may be mentioned that the ECP had declared null and void the intra-party election of the PTI and had revoked its election symbol bat. The PTI had approached the PHC against the decision which had suspended the ECP order.

However, the election watchdog filed a review petition in the high court, which restored the ECP’s earlier order and withdrew the interim relief granted to the PTI. Our correspondent adds from Mansehra: The PHC Abbottabad Circuit Bench is likely to decide today (Tuesday) a writ petition seeking Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supreme leader Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification from contesting the Feb 8 election.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Senator Azam Khan Swati had challenged the eligibility of Nawaz Sharif under Section 62(F) of the country’s constitutions at the regional election tribunal following returning officer NA-15 Mansehra-II Hajrah Samee gave him a clean chit to contest the elections last month.

Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel headed the PHC’s Regional Election Tribunal after hearing arguments of Senator Swati’s counsel Sardar Basharat Advocate and Nawaz Sharif’s counsel Jehangir Jadoon and fixed January 9 for a decision.

Swati’s counsel pleaded with the court to disqualify Nawaz from contesting elections as the Supreme Court of Pakistan had barred him from holding any public office or running for polls for his entire life under Section 62 (f) of the country’s constitution in 2017.

“The judge had announced whatever Supreme Court decides and when to decide on Nawaz Sharif’s eligibility of contesting election case, he would decree in this case Tuesday (today),” Senator Swati’s Counsel Sardar Basharat told reporters after the court proceedings.

He said that earlier the judge of the Regional Election Tribunal had extended that case’s proceedings thrice expecting the Apex Court’s ruling in Nawaz Sharif’s eligibility case pending before it.

The Returning Officer NA-15 Mansehra-II had disqualified the PTI senator Azam Khan Swati from contesting elections from her constituency following Captain (r) Mohammad Safdar, the son-in-law of Nawaz Sharif, raised objections over him and the PHCs election tribunal upheld her decision earlier this month.