PESHAWAR: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) finds itself at the center of a legal battle as contempt of court notices are issued in response to a petition filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The Peshawar High Court (PHC) held a hearing on PTI’s contempt plea and appointed a two-judge bench comprising Justice Shakeel Ahmed and Justice Waqar Ahmed.
The court asked all stakeholders, including the ECP, to respond with a deadline of January 16. The contempt petition alleges that the ECP failed to restore PTI’s election symbol and promptly upload the certificate on its website, in defiance of court orders.
SC not to interfere in ECP domain, notes CJP
PTI alleges that despite court orders, ECP has not issued bat symbol certificate to PTI, which amounts to contempt of court.
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At the same time, the ECP appealed to the Supreme Court against the award of the bat symbol to the PTI. The appeal challenges the PHC’s decision, alleging that the PTI did not hold inter-party elections as per the Election Act.
The ECP claims that the PHC’s decision is against the constitution and the law and is urging the quashing of the judgment. In response to this development, the ECP officials convened an important meeting with the participation of four members of the commission and the special secretary.
The legal department of the ECP briefed the commission on the legal aspects related to the PHC decision.
