LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday disposed of a petition of Advocate Salman Akram Raja of the PTI and directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to decide his application against declaring him an independent candidate from NA-128.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Sultan Tanvir Ahmad announced the decision after hearing arguments of the lawyers for the petitioner and the ECP.

Raja’s counsel Sameer Khosa argued that his client belonged to the PTI and intended to contest the elections as a candidate of the party after the RO accepted his nomination papers.

He stated that the ECP cannot prevent any party from participating in elections. He said the PTI has been registered as a political party with the ECP since 1996.

The counsel contended that the electoral symbol had been withdrawn for not conducting intra-party polls, but the party still exists. He argued that the commission unlawfully declared the petitioner as an independent candidate.

He asked the court to declare that the petitioner was a PTI candidate and not an independent for the Feb 8 general elections.

The ECP lawyer argued that a party cannot contest elections without a symbol.Asked by the court, the lawyer explained that Form 33 shows two types of candidates -- party candidates and independents. He said if a party was eligible, its candidate would be considered a party candidate.

Advocate Khosa said the petitioner’s right to contest elections as a party candidate had not been terminated. He recalled that in the case of Benazir Bhutto, the PPP was allowed to contest elections without a symbol.

In response to the court’s query, the lawyer said the petitioner did not file an appeal to the ECP and directly filed the writ petition.

The bench disposed of the petition with a direction to approach the ECP first.

The bench also directed the commission to decide the matter in accordance with law.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2024