ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has resumed hearing the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) plea against the Peshawar High Court (PHC) verdict denying them reserved seats.
A 13-member full court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, is hearing the case.
The bench comprises 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 Malik, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan.
Today’s hearing comes a day after Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan submitted the government’s written response to the apex court urging it to reject the SIC’s appeal seeking the allocation of reserved seats for women and minorities in the National and provincial assemblies.
The 30-page written submission argues that the reserved seats for minorities and women could be given to a political party which contested the polls and won at least one seat besides providing a list of candidates based on the total number of seats it won as per the law.
“Independently elected candidates are counted towards reserved seats for women and non-Muslims only when they join political parties within 3 days of publication of names of the returned candidates in the official Gazette” under Articles 51(6)(d) and (e), as well as 106(3)(c), the AGP’s response read.
The SIC neither contested the general elections as a political party nor filed any list of candidates for reserved seats for women and non-Muslims, under Section 104 of the Election Act, 2017, it further stated.
The attorney general said that the approval of the SIC’s appeal would be an “antithesis to the democracy” and “will weaken the political parties who participate in the electoral process”.
It further elaborated that the reserved seats for women and non-Muslims would only be allocated to political parties, whereas, independently elected candidates or those parties who have not contested the polls would not be considered for the seats.
PTI moves SC to become party to the case
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has filed a petition in the SC seeking to become a party in the said case.
The former ruling party has sought the apex court’s permission to be a party in the case after the “Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) levelled “unfounded” allegations on the PTI during the hearing of the SIC’s appeals”.
It read that the PTI and the SIC were deprived of reserved seats despite being eligible. The SIC was ready to provide a list of candidates for the allocations but was denied permission to submit it.
The Imran-founded party blamed the commission for “unconstitutionally” allocating reserved seats belonging to the PTI-SIC alliance to other political parties which also went against the aspirations of the nationals.
Reserved seats saga
The whole reserved seats saga began after the PTI-backed independent candidates emerged victorious in the February 8 elections and subsequently joined the SIC in a bid to claim seats reserved for minorities and women.
The move, however, didn’t prove to go in the party’s favour as the ECP, citing its failure to submit its list of candidates, denied allocating the reserved seats to the SIC.
The party then approached the PHC which upheld the electoral body’s decision on the matter.
Subsequently, the SIC moved the SC seeking setting aside of the PHC verdict and the allocation of 67 women and 11 minority seats in the assemblies.
On May 6, a three-member SC bench headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, including Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah, suspended the PHC verdict.
It then referred the matter to the judges’ committee for the formation of a larger bench since the matter required constitutional interpretation.
Meanwhile, the ECP had last week submitted its response to the apex court, saying the SIC does not qualify for reserved seats as the political party doesn’t allow non-Muslims to be a part of it.
The ECP informed the top court that the reserved seats cannot be allotted to the SIC as the party did not submit the list of candidates before the January 24 deadline.
The whole reserved seats issue holds significance as the PTI-backed independent candidates, who make up the majority of the opposition benches, lost as many as 77 reserved seats in NA and provincial assemblies due to the PHC’s verdict.
