PTI Challenges ECP Inquiry in Lahore High Court over Intra-Party Elections

Imran Khan's PTI has filed a petition in the Lahore High Court challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan's inquiry into the party's internal elections. The petition also addresses the non-return of seized goods from the PTI office, calling ECP's actions biased and requesting they be declared null and void.

Lahore: Imran Khan's party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has taken legal action against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by challenging its inquiry into PTI's intra-party elections in the Lahore High Court (LHC). The move was reported by ARY News on Monday, following a petition filed by PTI Chairman Barrister Ghar Ali Khan.

The petition, submitted through lawyer Azhar Bhandari, also contested the non-return of goods seized during a raid on PTI's office. The party alleges that ECP's actions are biased and seeks a court declaration to nullify the Commission's decisions, according to ARY News.

On September 6, the ECP had dismissed four miscellaneous applications submitted by PTI in the intra-party election case. In a detailed ten-page decision written by Nisar Durrani, a member from Sindh, the ECP advised PTI to approach the court for document retrieval and emphasized its mandate under Section 208 of the Election Act 2017 to review legal compliance requirements.

The ECP stressed its duty to examine facts before issuing certificates under Section 209(3). Earlier, on June 30, the Pakistan Supreme Court questioned the ECP on PTI's exclusion from general elections, raising concerns over a level playing field for all political parties, including PTI, before the February 8 elections, as reported by Pakistan-based Dawn.

(With inputs from agencies.)