SC hearing ECP’s appeal regarding PTI's bat

Islamabad: The Supreme Court is hearing the appeal of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) regarding election symbol bat of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

According to the details, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), is hearing the case related to bat sign of PTI.

At the beginning of the hearing, the Chief Justice of Pakistan inquired whether the detailed decision of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) has been released to which PTI lawyer Hamid Khan said that the detailed decision has not come yet.

Election Commission lawyer Makhdoom Ali Khan read out the PHC's decision to return the bat sign in the Supreme Court.

Lawyer Hamid Khan asked for time till Monday to prepare the case. On which CJP Qazi replied: “If the case has to be adjourned for three days, then the decision of the PHC has to be suspended. We are ready to work tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. One can listen to election cases by sacrificing Saturday and Sunday leave’.

Justice Qazi Faez stated that he only wants the elections to be held on time and according to the law, it is known that now the time for elections is short.

Chief Justice stated, ‘I have not even read the file of the case, Hamid Khan, when will you be ready for the case’.

ECP lawyer Makhdoom Ali said that tomorrow candidates will be allotted with election symbols, while Hamid Khan said that in this case, give time till tomorrow for preparation. Election Commission should tell how he can file an appeal as it is a partial judicial forum and their right is not claimed.

Chief Justice Qazi Faez remarked that the ECP is also a constitutional institution. If you object to the admissibility of the appeal of the Election Commission, the same question will come to you. You will also be asked how you consulted PHC.

The election commission lawyer said that the last party elections of Tehreek-e-Insaf were held in 2017. According to the party constitution, the party was bound to hold party elections in 2022.

Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar asked where the procedure for appointing the Election Commissioner is mentioned in the constitution of PTI. On which the Election Commission lawyer said that first Jamal Ansari and later Niazullah Niazi became the Chief Election Commissioner of PTI.

The Chief Justice asked who were the other members of the Commission according to the party constitution. Lawyer Makhdoom said that apart from the Chief Election Commissioner, no other member was appointed.

Justice Qazi asked Hamid Khan if this is true. On which PTI's lawyer said that the election commission's lawyer is not correct. Chief Justice asked where are the appointment documents of Election Commission members. The lawyer replied that he asked for time to prepare the case.

The PTI lawyer added that he will give arguments for the inadmissibility of the appeal of ECP and their right is not claimed, it would be appropriate to first listen to the point of claiming the right and admissibility. 

Chief Justice of Pakistan said that the Election Commission is a constitutional institution, the Collector comes here to defend his orders and there is no objection.

You have the right to raise objections. From the decision of the Election Commission, it has been understood that the party did not conduct the election under its own constitution. If you want to submit the documents, them must do it. If you want the court to order the records of the Election Commission, we will ask for it.

Hamid Khan said that the court had stopped the institutions from appealing against their decisions in the cases of the Competition Commission and the Federal Ombudsman. On which the Chief Justice inquired whether these decisions can be applied to the constitutional institutions.

‘The institutions established under the law and the constitution cannot be the same, the election commission constituted under the constitution will use the powers only according to the constitution, show any decision where the constitutional institutions are barred from appeals,’ stated CJP Qazi.

Lawyer PTI said that the Election Commission is dependent on the Election Act and not the Constitution, on which Justice Qazi Faez answered if we agree to your words, it will be a matter of ending the constitutional institution. The Supreme Court will not interfere in the jurisdiction of the Election Commission.

Once the former Chief Justice Jawad S. Khawaja was about to advance the date of local elections, ‘I told him that I will write a dissenting note, I had clearly said that elections should be held. It is the duty of the ECP and former Chief Justice Jawad agreed with me,’ added Qazi Faez.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan further said that the Election Commission is a constitutional institution and nobody can interfere in its proceeding. If it does anything illegal, then the matter can be looked into. Let the ECP lawyer inform the facts of the case. Where is the appointment document of party election commission? On which Hamid Khan said that if the court had issued an official notice, they would have brought the documents today.

Justice Qazi Faiz Isa said that PTI had consulted the High Court itself, they should not have been surprised when the appeal was filed.

Election Commission lawyer Makhdoom Ali Khan said that those who challenged the PTI intra-party election have been made a party. Akbar S. Babar is a founding member and part of PTI.

Hamid Khan said that Akbar S. Babar is not a member of PTI, on which Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar asked the lawyer of Akbar S. Babar how he is a member of Tehreek-e-Insaaf? The lawyer answered that PTI had not given any written response to our complaint.

The Chief Justice said that Akbar S. Babar has written himself as a founding member of PTI while Hamid Khan said that Akbar S. Babar is no longer a member of PTI. The statement of the party takes precedence over the statement of an individual. While talking to Hamid Khan, CJP said, "Don't be emotional, show the document of Akbar not being a party member".

Hamid Khan said that Akbar S. Babar was the founding member, on which Justice Mazhar said that the founding member cannot be removed and if it has been removed then show the letter. While the Chief Justice asked if you are also the founding member of PTI. On which Hamid Khan said, there were 08 to 12  founding members of PTI and I am also one of them, a distinction has to be made between the founding members and those who joined later.