PTI Seeks Larger Supreme Court Bench for Review of Intra-Party Elections Ruling

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The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has requested the establishment of a larger bench, consisting of at least five judges, to reconsider its review petition against a Supreme Court ruling from January 13 concerning its intra-party elections.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, along with Justices Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Musarat Hilali, is set to hear the PTI’s review petition on October 21. This will be in response to the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) successful appeal that overturned a Peshawar High Court ruling reinstating PTI’s electoral symbol, the cricket bat, and its intra-party elections.

On Saturday, PTI filed a civil application under Section 4 of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023, asking the court to refer their review to a committee responsible for forming a larger bench. PTI argued that the interpretation of a constitutional provision is at stake, making it essential for a broader bench to address the matter.

The petition claims that the ECP, as a constitutional and regulatory body, was not an “aggrieved party” and suggests that its insistence on revoking PTI’s electoral symbol violates the constitution. PTI stated that the Supreme Court misinterpreted this issue by incorrectly aligning it with the Javed Hashmi case.

Moreover, the PTI believes that the decision should not have been made without considering relevant past judgments from a larger bench and the legislative changes to Article 17 of the Constitution due to the 18th Amendment. They highlighted that these changes removed a provision essential to the ECP’s authority as outlined in the 2017 Election Act.

In past rulings, the court recognized the primary role of the ECP as an organizer of fair elections, noting that certain actions by the commission in similar cases should not classify it as an aggrieved party if a decision is overturned.

In light of these arguments, PTI has urged the Supreme Court to forward their review petition to a committee for the formation of a larger bench to consider their case.