The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday set aside an appeal filed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan against the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) ban on party heads and lawmakers to canvass in constituencies after the by-elections schedule are announced.

In 2015, the ECP had barred the president, prime minister, chief ministers, state ministers, governors and advisers from visiting a constituency or delivering speeches there, once the by-election schedules are announced. Later on, MNAs and MPAs were also added to the list.

The ECP's directives were ignored by Khan when he campaigned in Lodhran, Sahiwal and Lahore during the by-polls there — acts that the watchdog deemed violations of its code of conduct and subsequently issued a notice to the PTI supremo.

In 2017, Khan challenged the ECP's notice in the IHC, arguing that electioneering during by-polls is his right guaranteed by Article 16 of Constitution. He had urged the court to rule the ECP's notice "illegal".

The IHC, after restraining the ECP from pursuing its case against Khan for several months, had reserved its verdict in April this year.

Justice Aamer Farooq, however, released the final order today, dismissing Khan's appeal and setting the ECP free to continue its case's proceedings against him.

During the hearing, Sanaullah Zahid — the counsel for the ECP — argued that the commission had issued similar notices to a number of politicians for violating its code of conduct. With the exception of the PTI chief, the ECP counsel said, all the politicians had tendered unconditional apologies, which were accepted by the ECP.

The ECP counsel further said that Khan not only violated the code of conduct but was also reluctant to respond to the notice.