Party Candidates
The Supreme Court of Pakistan adjourned a case concerning the allocation of reserved seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) until Tuesday.
This significant case is being heard by a 13-member full court bench, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa. The decision to form a full court was made by the Practice and Procedure Committee.
The full court bench includes prominent justices: Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Munib Akhtar, Yahya Afridi, Aminuddin Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha Malik, Athar Minallah, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Shahid Waheed, Irfan Saadat Khan, and Naeem Akhtar Afghan. Justice Musarrat Hilali was notably absent due to illness.
During the hearing, Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa emphasized that the public must remain integral to the electoral process.
Justice Athar Minallah questioned whether the Election Commission could take action against a political party and asked if the Sunni Ittehad Council was registered as a political entity.
Justice Amin-ud-Din further inquired whether the SIC had contested the elections as a political party. Meanwhile, Justice Jamal remarked on implications that suggested the end of PTI and democracy.
SIC’s lawyer, Faisal Siddiqui, highlighted that a total of 77 or 78 reserved seats were under dispute across the National and three provincial assemblies. These reserved seats included those for women and minorities.
Clarifying the confusion over the exact number of disputed seats in the National Assembly, the ECP counsel confirmed there were 23 seats in question.
Chief Justice Isa requested Siddiqui to provide the party-wise distribution of the additional seats allocated to them, which the counsel duly furnished. Siddiqui also provided details regarding the reserved seats in the provincial assemblies.
During the proceedings, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail observed that the public had not voted for independent candidates but for those nominated by PTI in the February 8 general elections.
Justice Mandokhail stated, “The public did not vote for an independent candidate but rather the candidates being supported by a political party. This was the people’s right; the people voted for the PTI.”
Notably, the Supreme Court has already suspended the additional seats allocated to the government coalition.
On May 6, the Court had provided significant relief to the SIC by suspending the decisions of the Peshawar High Court and the Election Commission regarding the allocation of reserved seats to other parties.
According to the hearing order, the Election Commission’s lawyer argued that the SIC did not participate in the elections.
The Election Commission maintained that winning at least one seat is mandatory for being allocated reserved seats. The Attorney General concurred with the Election Commission’s stance.
Due to the constitutional interpretation required, the matter was referred to the Judges Committee for the formation of a larger bench. Consequently, the next hearing of the case was scheduled for June 3.
This ongoing case highlights the complexities of electoral processes and the importance of judicial oversight in ensuring fair representation and adherence to constitutional mandates.
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