Parvez Elahi ordered to contest election on 'donkey cart' symbol

The Lahore High Court, on Wednesday, rejected the plea filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf President and former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi seeking the allocation of the election symbol 'peacock'.

The court ruled that he must contest using the 'donkey cart' symbol. Justice Shahid Bilal Hasan delivered the verdict on Elahi's petition.

The Election Commission lawyer highlighted that form 33, issued on January 13, did not initially include the names of Parvez Elahi and Qaisara Elahi. Parvez Elahi's name was added to form 33 after the approval of his nomination papers in January.

The ECP lawyer mentioned that Qaisra Elahi received the 'tricycle' symbol, while Parvez Elahi was assigned the 'donkey cart' as an election symbol, and ballot papers had already been printed.

Parvez Elahi's legal representation argued that they approached the Returning Officer on January 26 to request a new electoral symbol, but the officer refused to accept the application. According to the Election Commission Act, the candidate is entitled to the election symbol of their choice, the lawyer asserted.

Elahi's counsel contended that the District Returning Officer lacks the legal authority to issue an election symbol.

Following the arguments, the court dismissed Elahi's request, affirming that Chaudhry Parvez Elahi would participate in the election using the 'donkey cart' symbol as per the judgement.