<\/p>\n
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa on Friday said that the Supreme Court would not \u201ctake over\u201d the job of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), noting that it was a constitutional body.<\/p>\n
His remarks came as a three-member bench \u2014 comprising CJP Isa, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali \u2014 took up the ECP\u2019s petition challenging the Peshawar High Court\u2019s (PHC) decision to restore the PTI\u2019s iconic \u2018bat\u2019 election symbol.<\/p>\n
Responding to PTI counsel Hamid Khan\u2019s arguments, Justice Isa noted that there was a \u201cvery clear line of demarcation\u201d between the functions of a constitutional and a statutory body.<\/p>\n
He remarked, \u201cIf they\u2019re (ECP) doing their job, we won\u2019t take over their job [or] how to do it [or] how better to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
On December 22, the ECP had decided against<\/a> letting PTI retain its electoral symbol for the general elections, saying that it had failed to hold intra-party polls as per its prevailing constitution and election laws.<\/p>\n Subsequently, the PTI had approached the PHC against the ECP order on Dec 26 and a single-member bench restored<\/a> the electoral symbol of the party till January 9 and directed that the case be fixed before a divisional bench.<\/p>\n On Dec 30, the electoral watchdog had filed a review application<\/a> in the PHC, arguing that the court had overstepped its jurisdiction. Days later, in a major blow for the PTI, the high court had withdrawn the stay<\/a> on the ECP order, stripping the party of its symbol again.<\/p>\n Consequently, the PTI moved the Supreme Court against the restoration of the ECP ruling. On Wednesday, the party had withdrawn the appeal as the matter was already being heard by the PHC.<\/p>\n The same day, the PHC had declared<\/a> \u201cillegal\u201d the ECP\u2019s decision to revoke PTI\u2019s iconic \u2018bat\u2019 electoral symbol and reject its intra-party polls. In the short order, the PHC had termed the ECP order as \u201cillegal, without any lawful authority and of no legal effect\u201d.<\/p>\n According to the court, the PTI was entitled to the election symbol \u201cstrictly in terms of sections 215 and 217, read with any other enabling provision of the Elections Act 2017 and Election Rules 2017\u201d.<\/p>\n A day earlier, the ECP had challenged the PHC\u2019s decision to restore the PTI\u2019s election symbol. Simultaneously, the PTI initiated<\/a> legal action in the PHC, filing a contempt petition against Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and other ECP members for not implementing the high court\u2019s order in the case.<\/p>\n During today\u2019s hearing, Hamid appeared as the PTI counsel while Makhdoom Ali Khan was present as the ECP lawyer.<\/p>\n Akbar S. Babar, an estranged party member, also appeared before the court whereas PTI lawyer Ali Zafar attended the hearing via video link from the SC\u2019s Lahore registry.<\/p>\n Gohar Ali, who was elected as the PTI chairman in the recent intra-party polls, reached the SC as well as the party\u2019s chief election commissioner (CEC) Niazullah Niazi and lawyer Shoaib Shaheen.<\/p>\n The hearing has been adjourned till 1:30pm.<\/p>\n At the outset of the hearing, the ECP counsel came to the rostrum. When CJP Isa asked Makhdoom whether the PHC\u2019s written order had been issued or not, the latter replied that it had not been.<\/p>\n The lawyer then read out the PHC order that restored the PTI\u2019s \u2018bat\u2019 symbol. He said that the ECP had not yet received \u201cany notice\u201d of the PHC order, to which the chief justice said, \u201cI have not read the case file either.\u201d<\/p>\n The top judge asked Makhdoom when he would be ready to present the case, at which the counsel urged the SC to adjourn the hearing till Monday. Makhdoom further said that the political parties would be allotted electoral symbols tomorrow.<\/p>\n Here, the CJP observed that to adjourn the hearing till Monday, the PHC\u2019s recent verdict would have to be suspended, adding that the apex court was ready to hear the case on Saturday and Sunday as well. The ECP lawyer then sought time till tomorrow to prepare for the case.<\/p>\n Makhdoom recalled that the PTI was supposed to hold its intra-party polls in 2022 and that the electoral watchdog issued a notice to the PTI for not holding the intra-party polls according to its party constitution.<\/p>\n Here, Justice Mazhar asked about the process for appointing the party\u2019s CEC mentioned in the PTI\u2019s constitution, to which the ECP lawyer said that Jamal Ansari was the previous party CEC, after which Niazi took the role.<\/p>\n Upon the chief justice asking who were the other members of the PTI\u2019s election commission, Makhdoom said \u201cno member other than the CEC was appointed\u201d.<\/p>\n However, when the CJP asked Hamid if the same was true, the PTI counsel answered it was not. The top judge then inquired about the documents pertaining to the appointment of members of the PTI\u2019s electoral body.<\/p>\n Here, the PTI lawyer said he had sought time to prepare for the case, adding that he would present arguments on the ECP\u2019s appeal not being maintainable and not having the right to claim.<\/p>\n The hearing<\/h2>\n