The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has scheduled a hearing for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) intra-party election case on September 18. Notices have been issued to PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and the party's information secretary Raoof Hassan, requiring them to present their arguments before the ECP’s bench.
The case traces back to June 9, 2022, when PTI held its intra-party elections. However, the ECP invalidated these elections in December 2023, a decision later upheld by the Supreme Court. This ruling resulted in the PTI losing its bat symbol, compelling its candidates to run as independents in the February 8 general elections.
Following this, PTI conducted another set of intra-party elections in March 2024, which have also been challenged. Earlier this month, the ECP rejected PTI’s petition seeking to delay the hearing until the Supreme Court provided clarification on its July 12 ruling concerning reserved seats.
The ECP’s decision, articulated in a 10-page order authored by ECP Member Sindh Nisar Ahmed Durrani, dismissed all four applications filed by PTI. These applications had challenged the ECP’s jurisdiction over intra-party elections, requested the return of records seized during an FIA raid on PTI’s central secretariat, and sought postponement of the case until the Supreme Court’s detailed judgment on reserved seats was issued.