The Peshawar High Court (PHC) is currently addressing a petition filed by PTI that challenges the decision regarding intra-party polls and the allocation of the election symbol.

• PTI states that the individual who contested the elections is not a member of the party.
• The party expresses optimism for a fair resolution from the Peshawar High Court.
• The ECP had previously deemed PTI's intra-party polls as 'unconstitutional.'

Justice Kamran Hayat Miankel of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) has initiated proceedings for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) petition challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) ruling that deemed the intra-party polls illegal and revoked the party's electoral symbol.

During the hearing, PTI lawyer Ali Zafar stated that the party was granted 20 days to conduct elections and held internal party elections in Peshawar on December 3. The ECP acknowledged the legitimacy of the intra-party elections and issued a certificate to the party.

The petition, filed by the party, named the ECP and those challenging the elections as respondents. It sought an urgent hearing and contended that the ECP lacked the authority to determine the procedure for intra-party elections. Additionally, it argued that the complainant who contested the intra-party polls was not a party member.

On December 22, the ECP declared PTI's intra-party polls as "unconstitutional" and withdrew its claim to the electoral symbol, the "bat." The PTI petition urged the court to declare the ECP's order as without jurisdiction, unlawful, and illegal, and requested the formation of a bench comprising senior judges for a Tuesday hearing.

The PTI also appealed to declare the proceedings by the ECP to question the validity of the intra-party elections as coram non judice, illegal, and lacking lawful authority. The party further sought a declaration that the withdrawal of the election symbol was a violation of fundamental rights under Articles 17 and 25 of the constitution.

The PTI urged the court to direct the ECP to promptly publish the certificates of the party on its website as required by law and restore its election symbol. The dispute arose when Akbar S Babar, a former PTI member, contested the validity of the intra-party polls, leading to the ECP's verdict against the party.