ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday postponed the hearing of the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) appeal against the Peshawar High Court’s decision, which denied it reserved seats for women and minorities, until tomorrow (Tuesday).
This decision came as the SC's 13-member full court bench took up the SIC’s challenge to the PHC's judgment regarding the reserved seats.
The bench was led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and included 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.
On May 6, a three-member SC bench, headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and including Justices Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Athar Minallah, suspended the PHC's verdict and referred the issue to a larger bench for constitutional interpretation.
At the start of the hearing, SIC counsel Faisal Siddiqi reiterated the petition's grounds, arguing that allocating reserved seats to other parties violated Articles 51(vi)(d) and (e) of the Constitution.
He cited an Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) letter dated April 24, which stated that the SIC, with 82 general seats in the National Assembly, was entitled to reserved seats.
CJP Isa questioned Siddiqi about the beneficiaries and requested a detailed breakdown of the reserved seats distributed to the ruling coalition parties beyond the initial allocation.
Siddiqi informed the court that there were 22 reserved seats for women in the National Assembly.
A discrepancy arose in the numbers, with Siddiqi pointing out errors in the ECP's statements, which mentioned either 77 or 78 reserved seats. He noted that candidates joined the SIC within three days of their victory notifications.
Justice Mandokhail remarked on the predetermined party affiliations when nomination papers were submitted and questioned if candidates had received any party affiliation certificates during this process. Justice Minallah echoed this inquiry.
Siddiqi affirmed that the candidates had shown party affiliation when filing their returns, prompting Justice Mandokhail to question their classification as independent candidates.
Siddiqi explained that the ECP directed candidates to contest as independents rather than as PTI candidates. Justice Mandokhail raised concerns about whether the ECP could declare someone nominated by a party as an independent candidate and if candidates could change party affiliation after submitting nomination papers.
CJP Isa asked if any beneficiary parties supported the SIC, to which Siddiqi smiled in response. Counsels for the PML-N, PPP, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), and PTI-Parliamentarians (PTI-P) opposed the SIC’s petition, while no counsel represented the PML-Q, Awami National Party (ANP), or Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP).
The hearing on SIC’s plea regarding reserved seats was subsequently adjourned until tomorrow.
