ISLAMABAD:Justice Jamal Mandokhail has inquired as to how the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf received an election symbol in 2018 despite not having conducting intra-party polls at that time.
The question was raised during the Supreme Court (SC) hearing over the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) appeal against an ECP decision not to allocate reserved seats to it in the national and provincial legislatures.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa, who leads the 13-member full bench, responded to Justice Mandokhail by stating that indulging into the past matter would also bring the Senate Chairman’s election into question.
Earlier during the hearing, the lawyer for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) presented four legal arguments, stating that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had not conducted intra-party elections according to the law.
He argued that Barrister Gohar’s signature as a chairman on PTI tickets was invalid as there was no legal PTI organisation at the time.The party ticket bears the signature of Barrister Gohar as Chairman.At the time of issuing the ticket, Tehreek-e-Insaf did not have a legal organizational structure.
The party’s organization did not exist due to the failure to conduct proper intra-party elections.Justice Mandokhail pointed out that the party tickets were issued on December 22, while the intra-party elections case decision came on January 13, during which Barrister Gohar was the Chairman.
The ECP’s counsel, Sikander Bashir Mohmand mentioned that the ECP had nullified the intra-party elections on December 23.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah noted that the ECP’s decision was suspended on December 26, while Justice Jamal Mandokhail asked for clarification on where and by whom the mistake was made.Counsel Sikandar Mehmood explained that many candidates did not mention their party affiliation, which is why they were considered independent.
Justice Jamal Mandokhail emphasized that the crucial element is the party ticket; without it, a candidate will be considered independent.The Election Commission’s lawyer agreed, stating that he and the Justice were on the same page.
Justice Mandokhail responded, “Tear the page, I don’t want to be on the same page.”The lawyer argued that the party tickets issued by Barrister Gohar held no legal status.Sahebzada Hamid Raza, Chairman of the Sunni Ittehad Council, could have issued party tickets but did not.
