The Peshawar High Court (PHC) approved the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) review plea on Wednesday, reinstating the ECP's December 22 directives that revoked the PTI's use of the "bat" symbol.

This decision overturns the single-bench ruling from December 26, which temporarily halted the ECP's directive until January 9, allowing PTI to continue using their party symbol.

Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court (LHC) is set to announce its verdict on a similar petition tomorrow.

During the PHC proceedings, Justice Ejaz Khan's single-member bench heard arguments from both sides. Sikander Bashir Mohmand represented the ECP, while Shah Faisal Uthmankhel and Qazi Anwar appeared for PTI.

PTI's counsel contended that the ECP's decision to withdraw the "bat" symbol was unjust and highlighted that action hadn't been taken against 19 other parties allegedly not conducting intra-party polls.

Contrarily, the ECP's representative argued that challenging the top electoral body's orders wasn't appropriate at the high court level; rather, PTI should have approached the Supreme Court.

The review petition emphasized the ECP's responsibility to conduct elections fairly, citing Article 218(3). It pointed out that challenging any stage of the election process equates to challenging the entire electoral procedure.

Additionally, it stressed the court's inability to grant final relief based on an interim plea, as requested by the petitioners, indicating that the single-bench judgment contradicted both legal principles and a 1997 Supreme Court verdict.