The Supreme Court began hearing a petition filed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), an ally of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), challenging the denial of reserved seats for women and minorities. A 13-member full court, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, is overseeing the hearing. The bench includes Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha A Malik, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan.
During the previous hearing, CJP Isa questioned PTI’s decision to merge with SIC after the February 8 elections. He inquired, “Why did the independent candidates leave PTI when it is a political party? Why did you commit suicide by joining another party which goes against your arguments?” He emphasized that had the independent candidates remained with PTI, the current issue might not have arisen.
The controversy centers on PTI-backed independent candidates, who, after winning in the February 8 elections, joined SIC to claim seats reserved for women and minorities. However, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) denied these seats to SIC due to the party’s failure to submit a list of candidates. The party’s appeal to the Peshawar High Court (PHC) was unsuccessful, with the court upholding the ECP’s decision.
In April, SIC leader Sahibzada Hamid Raza, along with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly speaker, petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the PHC’s verdict and allocate 67 women and 11 minority seats to SIC. On May 6, a three-member Supreme Court bench, led by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and including Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah, suspended the PHC verdict. The matter was referred to a larger bench for constitutional interpretation.
Last week, the ECP submitted its response to the Supreme Court, stating that SIC does not qualify for reserved seats because it does not allow non-Muslims to be members and failed to submit its candidate list by the January 24 deadline.
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