SC annuls PHC, ECP decision on SIC reserved seats

Islamabad: The Supreme Court of Pakistan Friday annulled the Peshawar High Court's (PHC) and Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decision in the case of reserved seats of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

According to the details, a 13-member full court headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa pronounced the verdict.

Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandukhel, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Athar Minullah, Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan are part of the full court.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa said that the decision is in the ratio of 5/8.

The Supreme Court remarked that withdrawal of election symbol cannot disqualify a political party from elections. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is entitled to reserved seats and was and is a political party.

According to the court decision, out of 80 independent members, 39 members belong to PTI, the remaining 41 members should clarify in 15 days from which party they contested the election.

The Election Commission should confirm and declare the relevant members as members of the political party, and give the list of reserved seats to the Election Commission within 15 days. The decision will apply to all national and provincial assemblies, stated the order.

The court rejected the appeal regarding the Sunni Ittehad Council seats.

Room number one of the Supreme Court was opened, and members of the SIC, ECP lawyer Sikander Bashir and Attorney General Mansoor Awan are present in the court room.

Apart from this, 13 chairs have also been installed in the court for the full-court bench.

On the other hand, to maintain the law and order situation, additional police force has been deployed outside the Supreme Court. Apart from this, a van with prisoners has also been brought outside the Supreme Court.

It is pertinent to note that on Wednesday, the day after the judgment was reserved, an important consultation meeting was held under the chairmanship of Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, in which all the judges included in the 13-member full court participated. A detailed consultation was held on the decision regarding the reserved seats, however, a second consultation meeting was held yesterday under the chairmanship of Chief Justice Qazi Faez.

Notably on Tuesday, the Supreme Court had reserved the decision after the completion of the hearing of the case related to reserved seats and on this occasion the Chief Justice had said that it cannot be said that when the decision will be pronounced. They will consult regarding this.