The Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa resumed hearing on PTI regarding the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) appeal against the Peshawar High Court (PHC) verdict restoring the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) electoral symbol — bat.
A 3-member bench headed by the Chief Justice is conducting the hearing. The bench included Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musrat Hilali
PTI lawyers Hamid Ali Khan and Ali Zafar came to the rostrum to proceed with the hearing.
While hearing the case on Friday, CJP remarked that the members of every political party have the right to cast their vote.
“If this right is taken away, it would be considered a dictatorship on a national level and would be a violation of rights,” he said during the hearing on the Election Commission of Pakistan’s petition against the PHC verdict restoring the PTI’s electoral symbol.
The Peshawar High Court earlier restored the symbol to PTI after the party appealed the ECP’s decision.
The ECP had ruled that the party had not organised elections as per its own Constitution and had taken away its electoral symbol.
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The bench is led by CJP Isa and includes Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali.
PTI lawyer Hamid Khan and ECP lawyer Makhdoom Ali Khan appeared before the court, while PTI lawyer Ali Zafar attended the hearing via video link from the top court’s Lahore registry.
During the hearing, CJP Isa remarked that the ECP was a constitutional body and no one could interfere in its domain.