A 13-member full court bench of the Supreme Court has resumed hearing the petition filed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) challenging the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) verdict upholding the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to deny them reserved seats.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa is leading the bench, which includes Justices Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Muneeb Akhtar, Yahya Afridi, Amin-ud-Din Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Malik, Athar Minallah, Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Shahid Waheed, Irfan Saadat Khan, and Naeem Akhtar Afghan.
During the last hearing on June 27, Justice Minallah remarked that the ECP lacked the authority to exclude any party from the elections. Meanwhile, CJP Isa questioned the ECP on why the court shouldn’t consider the candidates as belonging to the PTI. Justice Malik questioned the ECP’s decision to declare the candidates as independent despite their declared association with a political party. Justice Muneeb clarified that the SC, in its previous decision, did not intend to exclude the PTI from the polls.
The court directed the ECP to provide PTI’s list regarding reserved seats to other lawyers along with the candidates’ certificates and declarations.
Reserved Seats Issue
The issue of reserved seats arose after PTI-backed independent candidates won the February 8 elections and joined the SIC to claim seats reserved for minorities and women. The ECP denied these seats, citing the PTI’s failure to submit its list of candidates on time. The PTI challenged the ECP’s decision in the PHC, which upheld the ECP’s stance. PTI then appealed to the SC to overturn the PHC verdict and allocate 67 women and 11 minority seats.
On May 6, a three-member SC bench, including Justices Mansoor Ali Shah, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, and Athar Minallah, suspended the PHC verdict and referred the matter to a larger bench for constitutional interpretation.
In its response, the ECP argued that the SIC does not qualify for reserved seats as the party does not allow non-Muslims. The ECP also maintained that the SIC missed the January 24 deadline to submit its candidate list.
Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan, on behalf of the government, submitted a 30-page written argument urging the SC to reject the SIC’s appeal for reserved seats for women and minorities.
Additionally, the PTI has sought to become a party in the case, contending that the ECP made “unfounded allegations” against the PTI during the SIC’s appeals. PTI argued that they were deprived of reserved seats despite being eligible and that the SIC was ready to provide a candidate list but was denied the opportunity to submit it.
