Islamabad : Jan 4, 2024: The Pakistan Tehreek- e – Insaf (PTI) on Thursday moved the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) to challenge the Peshawar High Court (PHC) decision of upholding the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ruling for taking its electoral symbol bat back. PHC had initially revoked ECP decision and allowed PTI to contest February 8 election with it .
ECP had appealed against this decision . In the appeal , PHC ‘s single appellant bench reversed the earlier decision and upheld ECP’s decision to strip -off PTI of bat.After filing the petition , PTI chairman , Gohar Ali Khan, spoke to the media outside the SCP on Thursday. He said PTI wants the electoral symbol of bat as its primary identification of the party for going into the elections. However, he added that PTI has a plan B like any other political party that faces challenges in the process of the general elections. He said PTI will in any case contest the general elections scheduled for February 8 this year.
PTI has been expressing reservations over what it dubs as discriminatory actions against it in the initial process of filing nomination papers . However , it is not considering an option of boycotting the election 2024. Gohar Ali Khan reiterated PTI position during his media talk outside SCP and said PTI is ready to face the challenges, but it will contest the elections being held on February 8. He also reiterated that any attempt to keep PTI out of the election process will damage Pakistan ‘s credibility and so its fragile process of democracy.