The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has once again stepped in to stop the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from making a final decision on the second notice it sent to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for failing to complete the necessary paperwork and formalities after intra-party elections.
During the hearings, the PHC told the petitioners in question to go to the ECP to continue their case.
The PTI sent an extra plea and asked the court to combine it with the first writ on December 19 and stop the commission from making a final decision.
The case was heard on Friday by a two-person bench of the PHC, which was made up of Justice Faheem Wali and Justice Shakeel Ahmed.
Barrister Gohar Khan, who is the head of the PTI, told the court that the party’s internal polls took place in Peshawar on December 2 and that he won without a challenge as party chairman.
He said that Akbar S. Babar, who helped start the party but isn’t a member now, had filed a case with the ECP against this election.
“According to sections 208 and 209 of the Election Act 2017, intra-party elections occur every five years and are conducted within a party based on its own constitution.”
He went on to say that the PHC had previously stopped the ECP from making a decision on the earlier warning and set a hearing for December 19.
Even so, he was upset that PTI had been sent another notice saying they had not followed the rules for printing the party election certificate in the gazette.
He said that the party followed the rules set by the law. “All the essentials required for publishing the chairman’s certificate have been fulfilled.”
He begged the court to tell the ECP to print the party’s certificate, saying that the commission didn’t need to send out extra notices since they had already confirmed compliance in previous court appearances.
He said that in the second warning from the ECP, there was an order to show up in front of the commission on December 18.
In his argument, he said that the ECP is unfair to the PTI and its “bat” symbol because it doesn’t have the power to hear a case against a party election.
After the meeting was over, the PHC stopped the ECP from making a final decision and put the case off until December 19.
The larger bench of the Lahore High Court sent out notices and asked for responses from those who were interested in PTI founder Imran Khan’s two petitions challenging his five-year ban following the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to hold an investigation into the Toshakhana case and to declare the PTI’s intra-party election (IPE) invalid.
The bigger bench, led by Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan, was also hearing the PTI’s third plea, which was a challenge to the ECP’s decision to disqualify them in the Toshakhana case for making false statements and an incorrect declaration.
As the case started, the bench noticed that the ECP’s lawyer wasn’t there and said it wouldn’t be right to go ahead with the case without him.
When the ECP’s order in the Toshakhana case was challenged in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan raised concerns about the bench’s authority. He pointed out that two cases could not be heard in the same court.When the bench asked about it, the petitioner’s lawyer, Barrister Ali Zafar, said that they had filed a removal application with the IHC, but that it had not been accepted.
Justice Shahid Bilal said, “In this case, this bench will see if this plea can be heard by this bench.” In response, Barrister Ali Zafar said that petitions could be heard in two places, but it was up to the petitioner to decide where to withdraw. He also said that it was strange that the court would still hear the plea even though the petitioner had withdrawn.
But the bench told Barrister Ali Zafar to make a case for why this bench could hear the same plea that is still being heard by the IHC. The bench said that they would decide on these pleas after hearing long talks about jurisdiction, whether the cases can be maintained, and their merits.
Barrister Ali Zafar said that these issues needed to be decided right away, pointing out that the Supreme Court of Pakistan had told them to hold the polls and that the ECP was about to release its schedule. We don’t want these requests to be decided on slowly, because if they are, popular leader Imran Khan might not be able to run in the general election.
The Lahore High Court (LHC) sent notices to the relevant authorities on Friday about two petitions: one was from former prime minister Imran Khan challenging his five-year ban in the Toshakhana case; the other was from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) challenging the validity of the PTI’s internal elections.
The bench, led by Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan, was also hearing a third petition from the party that was fighting the ECP’s decision to disqualify them in the Toshakhana case for allegedly giving false information and an incorrect declaration.
As the hearings continued today, the bench noticed that ECP’s lawyer was not present and said that the proceedings should not continue without him.
Justice Hassan was also worried about the bench’s authority. He pointed out that the ECP’s order in the Toshakhana case was also being heard in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), and he asked how the same case could be heard in two different courts.
To address the concerns mentioned by the bench, Imran’s lawyer, Barrister Ali Zafar, said that they had submitted a withdrawal application to the IHC, but the court did not accept it.
After that, Justice Hassan said that the bench would decide if it could hear the plea or not. Zafar responded that petitions can be heard in two places, but it is up to the petitioner to choose which one to use to withdraw his plea.
But the bench told the lawyer to make a case for why the bench could hear the same plea that was already before the IHC. They also said that they would decide on these pleas after hearing detailed points about jurisdiction, maintainability, and merits.
Zafar said that the cases brought before the bench needed to be decided quickly because, on the one hand, the Supreme Court had told them to hold the general elections and, on the other, the ECP was about to release its schedule.
“We do not want a delay in the decision of these petitions,” he said, adding that a popular leader like Imran might not be able to run in the general election if there is one.
