The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has expressed concerns over the Supreme Court’s decision to strip former prime minister Imran Khan’s party PTI of its iconic electoral symbol bat.

“HRCP is deeply concerned by the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the ECP’s revocation of the PTI’s choice of electoral symbol,” it said in a post on X on Monday.

On Saturday, the apex court set aside the Peshawar High Court order that reinstated “bat” as the party’s electoral symbol. Consequently, the apex court upheld the December 23 order of the Election Commission of Pakistan that nullified the intra-party elections of the PTI.

In the short order, the three-member SC bench said that the ECP had been calling upon PTI to hold its intra party elections since 24 May 2021; at that time the PTI was in the federal government and in some provinces. Therefore, it cannot be stated that ECP was victimising PTI.

The commission reminded the top court that in 1988, on Benazir Bhutto’s petition, the court itself ruled that any infringement on the fundamental rights of a political party was an infringement on the rights of the citizens it represented, particularly as guaranteed under Article 17 protecting freedom of association.

“Denying a political party its electoral symbol not only significantly hinders its ability to freely participate in elections, it also effectively disenfranchises its voters, who rely on electoral symbols to choose their representatives,” it said.

Many legal experts and journalists have expressed their concerns over the top court’s decision, saying that it was a “denial” of fundamental rights.

After the Supreme Court’s verdict on a petition against the restoration of the bat symbol, PTI’s Barrister Gohar Khan stated that his party candidates would contest the delayed general elections as an independent.