LHC maintains the ‘donkey cart’ emblem and rejects Pervaiz Elahi’s appeal.

On Wednesday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elah’s appeal to use the “Peacock” as his electoral symbol for the forthcoming elections on February 8 was denied by the Lahore High Court (LHC).

The Election Commission’s decision to award Pervaiz Elahi the emblem of a “donkey cart” was upheld by the high court.

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, a PTI politician and former chief minister of Punjab, has filed a motion for a review of the electoral symbol that had been awarded to him with the Lahore High Court. Instead, he begged for the emblem of a “peacock” to be accepted.

Pervaiz Elahi was given permission by the Pakistani Supreme Court to run in the elections last Friday, but his request for a change in symbol was denied by the Lahore High Court bench, which is led by Justice Shahid Bilal Hasan.

The Election Commission’s choice to give Pervaiz Elahi the “donkey cart” emblem will remain, the court said.

Important PTI figure Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had his nomination papers rejected by the returning officer; the high court and the electoral appellate panel subsequently overturned this judgement.

The attorney for Elahi said in the Lahore High Court that the returning officer’s rejection of the application for the ‘peacock’ symbol indicated that the decision to assign the ‘donkey cart’ emblem was motivated by malice. The court maintained the Election Commission’s ruling in spite of these claims.