PHC orders RO for allotment of new symbol to PTI’s candidate

Humayun Khan

PESHAWAR: A divisional bench of Peshawar High Court (PHC) comprising of Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Shakeel Ahmad ordered Returning Officer (RO) for allotment of another electoral symbol Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Kamran Bangash from PK-82, on Wednesday.

Justice Ijaz Anwar while hearing the plea of PTI leader and former provincial minister Kamran Bangash, a candidate from provincial constituency PK-82, on Wednesday remarked that the party had been deprived of its election symbol on one hand, and on the other the candidates have allotted such symbols which are difficult to distinguish.

The counsel Syed Sikandar Hayat Shah submitted that his client has been given violin as a symbol while his opponent has been allotted guitar. Both the symbols looked similar on the ballot paper. And the name of the opposing candidate is also Kamran, he added. The lawyer argued that an application was submitted in time but the ECP (Election Commission of Pakistan) rejected it.

However, the counsel for the ECP claimed that both the symbols looked different. Justice Anwar questioned him whether ECP did it deliberately that you allotted such election symbols which look alike. The counsel submitted that ballot papers were being printed. Change in election symbol would cause delay in polling, he maintained.