ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) withdrew its plea filed in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, seeking revival of its iconic ‘bat’ election symbol.
Imran Khan’s party decided to take back appeal before the scheduled hearing. Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Hamid Khan, maintained that appeal is already scheduled before the Peshawar High Court.
Therefore, PTI council requested apex court to withdraw petition due to ongoing cases.
Earlier, a 3-member panel led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali were supposed to take up case related to the electoral symbol of Imran Khan’s party.
Beleagured PTI moved apex court as Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) stripped party from its iconic election symbol due to issues in the intra-party election. PTI challenged this decision in the top court, while a similar case was ongoing in the Peshawar High Court (PHC).
During hearing in Peshawar High Court, PTI’s counsel argued that electoral watchdog exceeded its authority by nullifying PTI’s intra-party election and withdrawing the bat symbol. The party counsel said ECP had initially declared the intra-party election valid.
ECP lawyer argued that the commission had the authority to ensure transparent elections, and if it identified any irregularities, it could declare the intra-party elections invalid.
After the arguments, the court adjourned the hearing until the next day at 9 am.
More to follow…
