Pakistan’s top election body on Monday reserved its judgment in a case challenging the controversial organisational elections in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party founded by the now-incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan. A five-member panel of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) concluded the hearing of multiple petitions filed by members of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) against the election held on December 2 in Peshawar.

Several petitioners led by PTI’s estranged former leader Akbar S Ahmad challenged the election in the ECP by blaming the party for carrying out a selection process in the name of party election, aiming at throwing out party workers to give the reins to a few lawyers ahead of general elections on February 8.

The ECP panel, led by the Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, reserved the verdict after hearing arguments by the rival parties.

Earlier, following an order by the ECP to hold the polls within the party to retain the cricket bat as a party symbol, the PTI organised its party polls, electing Barrister Gohar Khan, a nominee of Imran Khan, as the new chairman.

Both Akbar S Ahmad and Gohar Khan attended the hearing. Khan, who is in jail, had decided to stay away from party elections as it would have invited a legal challenge by his opponents since he was disqualified by the ECP in the Toshakhana corruption case.

Geo News reported that PTI’s counsel Barrister Ali Zafar presented his arguments, “The chairman is elected for five years while the panel is for three years. Voting is not required where there is an uncontested election.”

Zafar also told the top poll body that the ECP is not a regulator in the intra-party polls and uncontested elections are not illegal, Geo News reported.