The decision was reserved after the completion of the direct hearing on the appeal filed by the Election Commission against the Peshawar High Court’s decision to return the ‘bat’ election symbol to the Tehreek-e-Insaf in the Supreme Court.
A 3-member bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Musrat Hilali heard the case.
At the beginning of the hearing, Chief Justice Faiz Isa remarked that the detailed decision of the Peshawar High Court has come.
PTI lawyer Hamid Khan said that the decision has been read, Peshawar High Court has written the best decision.
Meanwhile Barrister Ali Zafar came to the rostrum for the arguments on the call of Hamid Khan, he started the arguments and said that today is the last day to submit party tickets, time is short, so I will try to complete the arguments quickly. .
Chief Justice Faiz Isa remarked that we also have less time because the judgment has to be written.
PTI’s lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar said that he will support the court but today is the last date for the release of election symbols and final lists, on which the Chief Justice said that the court is aware that the court also has a burden to write a decision. It is not on the lawyer, the lawyer just leaves with arguments, we also need time to write the decision.
Lawyer Ali Zafar said that the Constitution and the Election Act do not allow the Election Commission to review the anti-party election, the election symbol cannot be stopped due to intra-party elections, Article 17 gives the authority to form political parties, the Supreme Court also Article 17. Two have been explained in detail.
Ali Zafar said that it is within the rights of a political party to fight an election with an electoral symbol, depriving a political party of an electoral symbol on the basis of intra-party elections is a violation of Article 17-2. Behaves, the Election Commission has apparently acted maliciously by removing the bat symbol, the Election Commission is not a court of law that can give a fair trial.
He further said in his arguments that no member of PTI challenged the intra-party elections, even if the elections were challenged, it would be a civil court matter. Commission’s denial of election symbol is a violation of Article 17, Election Commission is not a court, if the Election Commission’s orders are arbitrary, contrary to the facts, the court has the power of judicial review. Fair trial under Article 10A can be done, the EC’s decision is inconsistent with Article 10A as no such trial took place.
Lawyer Ali Zafar said that PTI is a political party which is an organization of private citizens, the Election Commission does not have the authority to make a complaint and decide automatically, PTI held the first election on 8th June 2022, on 23rd October. The Election Commission said that these are wrong elections, they should be held again in 20 days. were done
Barrister Ali Zafar said that the Election Commission did not mention any irregularity in the decision, the reasons given by the Election Commission for the decision are strange, the Election Commission called the elections correct, the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner was wrong, the Election Commission said that the appointment is not correct, therefore they will not recognize the elections nor mark them. Yesterday, Makhdoom Ali Khan raised technical objections. Makhdoom Ali Khan’s point was about democracy within the party.
The Chief Justice of Pakistan said that democracy should exist within the political parties as well as the country. The main question is about democracy and not about the full implementation of the party constitution. No, Akbar Babar was a founding member, it is a different matter if he did not like it, but his membership was, it is not enough to say that the petitioner was not a party member, if Akbar Babar resigned or went to another party, show that too.
Justice Qazi Faiz Isa said that it is not enough to accuse the Election Commission on social media or the media, it is necessary to prove the Election Commission’s malice. It has not been challenged, so we will not talk about the Act. Was the Election Commission an independent constitutional body in your government, which has now become subordinate to someone?
Barrister Ali Zafar said that we are also not challenging the Election Act, on which Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said whether PTI had followed the schedule issued by it? Were the elections transparent, was it clear who could contest the election and who could not?
Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said that you are asking for a level playing field, your members will also have to be given a level playing field.
The PTI lawyer said that the Election Commission has not identified any such irregularity, I will answer all the questions with the documents.
Justice Musrat Hilali asked who was the party head when the party election was being held, to which Barrister Ali Zafar said that the head was the founder PTI at that time, while Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said that the Election Commission under Section 215 of the Election Act. Did you take action?
The Chief Justice said that not a single person cast a vote in PTI’s intra-party election. It also happens in general elections that anyone can contest the election even if they do not get votes. Elections will be held, so PTI is going towards dictatorship, PTI did not allow anyone else to contest intra-party elections, even in Senate if they do not get a single vote, they are not elected.
Barrister Ali Zafar said that I have also become a senator in the Senate unopposed, on which the Chief Justice said that the entire body of PTI came unopposed. If 6 were elected, then what was the need for gathering?
PTI’s lawyer said that according to the party constitution, it was necessary to announce the results publicly at the polling venue, 500 to 500 people had gathered at the venue, the court asks a question, the lawyer answers it, then something like this. We must create the environment.
Justice Qazi Faiz Isa said that it became clear that Akbar S. Babar was a founding member but then he changed the constitution, Hamid Khan had said on the first day that he was a founding member.
Barrister Ali Zafar said that the Election Act does not give the Election Commission the authority to examine the intra-party election, on which the Chief Justice of Pakistan said that if the Election Commission has the authority to examine the party fund, how come it is not authorized to examine the party election.
The Supreme Court completed the hearing regarding the bat symbol and reserved the decision on the appeal of the Election Commission.
On this occasion, the Chief Justice said that safe decision will be pronounced for some time, we cannot say anything now, let us breathe, we will also have to consult with the judges. He remarked that while good arguments were made on both sides, time was needed to absorb the arguments and arrive at a conclusion.
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2024-08-03 04:25:44
