LAHORE: The PTI has approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the orders of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for an inquiry into its intra-party polls.

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan filed a petition through Advocate Uzair Karamat Bhandari.

The petition raises objections to the jurisdictions of the ECP to hold an inquiry into the party’s polls. It also objects to the failure to return the items seized during a raid on the PTI office by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

The petition points out that the ECP’s behaviour was biased while arbitrary orders were being issued. It asks the court to set aside the ECP’s decision for being illegal.

The petition has been fixed for hearing as an ‘objection case’ before the court of Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal for Tuesday (today).

The registrar office has questioned the maintainability of the petition before the LHC on the point of territorial jurisdiction.

In the impugned decision, the ECP had rejected the pleas of the PTI, ruling that the commission had the powers to regulate the intra-party polls.

It said the Elections Act 2017 mandates that a political party registered with the ECP must periodically elect its office-bearers at the federal, provincial and local levels in accordance with the party’s constitution.

The ECP had instructed the PTI to approach the competent court of law for the return of files, computers, hard drives, etc seized by the FIA.

The commission had also rejected a plea of the PTI to stay the proceedings of intra-party election matter till announcement of a detailed judgement by the supreme court in the reserved seats case.

The ECP observed that the PTI had already delayed the matter and violated various provisions of the Elections Act 2017.

HARASSMENT: The Punjab government assured the LHC that the PTI workers in the province would not be harassed.

Additional Advocate General Umar Farooq stated this during the hearing of a petition by Opposition Leader in National Assembly Omar Ayub who alleged that the party workers were being harassed for holding political rallies.

The law officer also submitted a written report and maintained that the workers following the legal framework would not face any action.

In light of the government’s undertaking, Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh disposed of the petition. He noted that the question of unsealing the PTI office ended as it had been relocated to another place.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2024