SIC not entitled to reserved seats for women: PHC

Peshawar: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) Monday issued a detailed decision in the case related to the reserved seats of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

According to the details, a five-member larger bench of the PHC had delivered a brief verdict on March 14, but now Justice SM Atiq Shah of the High Court has issued a 30-page detailed verdict.

The judgment said that the decision of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to allocate reserved seats is in accordance with Article-51 and the High Court has jurisdiction to hear cases of reserved seats up to the province.

The court decision stated that the petitioner objected that the reserved seats cannot be distributed to other political parties, the SIC is not entitled to reserved seats for women, the list of reserved seats cannot be submitted after the prescribed time. Therefore, the application is dismissed.

The court further said in its judgment that a political party participating in the election is entitled to reserved seats, however, a party that does not win a single seat in the general elections is not eligible for reserved seats. The argument that reserved seats cannot be given to other parties, is unconstitutional. The Election Commission distributed reserved seats in a constitutional manner.