MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Supreme Court on Monday suspended a lower court order that had restored the registration of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), placing the party’s electoral future in fresh uncertainty ahead of the upcoming legislative assembly elections.

The apex court stayed the AJK High Court’s June 23 verdict, which had reinstated PTI’s registration and allowed its candidates to contest the elections under the party’s traditional “bat” electoral symbol.

The order came after the AJK Election Commission challenged the high court ruling, arguing that the court had exceeded its jurisdiction by granting relief beyond the scope of the petition originally filed.

Chief Justice Raja Saeed Akram Khan heard the matter and constituted a full bench to decide the case. The next hearing has been scheduled for July 2.

Earlier, a larger bench of the AJK High Court, headed by Chief Justice Shahid Bahar, had overturned the election commission’s decision to cancel PTI’s regional registration over alleged financial irregularities and failure to comply with internal party election rules.

The high court ruling was issued on a petition filed by senior PTI leader and former AJK prime minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi.

While PTI welcomed the high court decision, the Supreme Court’s latest order has temporarily suspended its implementation until the matter is decided by the full bench.

If the Supreme Court upholds the election commission’s appeal, PTI will lose its official party status in AJK, requiring its candidates to contest the elections as independents without the party’s unified “bat” election symbol.