Registrar of the Lahore High Court has been directed to club all pleas challenging authority of the Election Commission of Pakistan to strip a political party of its election symbol.
A division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) led by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi issue the directives during hearing of an intra-court appeal on Wednesday. The bench also issued notices to the federal government and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to come up with replies in the matter.
Counsel for the petitioner, Advocate Azhar Siddique argued that the ECP does not have the authority to withdraw an electoral symbol from a political party. He claimed that Section 215 of the Election Act, 2017 is in violation of the Constitution. Responding to the court query whether political parties should be allowed not to hold intra-party elections, Advocate Siddique submitted that such elections were vital but the ECP cannot deprive a party of its election symbol just because it has not conducted intra-party polls. He made appoint saying in such cases, the ECP could only impose fine on a political party.
Justice Naqvi observed the Election Act, 2017 was passed unanimously by all parliamentary parties. He also noted that no political party has challenged the ECP’s powers to deprive a party of its symbol. Subsequently, the bench issued notices to the respondents, ordered the LHC registrar to club all similar petitions, and adjourned the matter. The ECP on December 22 has invalidated the former ruling party, the PTI, of its election symbol—the cricket bat—while hearing complaints that accused the party of holding intra-party elections in violation of its constitution.
The party later challenged the ECP order in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) which on January 10 invalidated the ECP order. The ECP assailed the PHC order in the Supreme Court which on January 13 dealt a heavy blow to the party by upholding the ECP order.
Meanwhile, during January this year, the ECP has restored the lantern symbol to the Awami National Party (ANP) after imposing fine of Rs20,000 while hearing its case regarding the intra-party elections. The ANP had requested a six-month extension for holding the intra-party elections, but the ECP rejected the plea, saying that the ANP’s five-year term had not expired yet, and that the country was in the midst of an election campaign and political parties were participating in it. Therefore, the ANP had to hold the intra-party elections by May 10. The ECP also imposed a fine of 20,000 rupees on the ANP for violating the rules and regulations of the commission.
