The Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench on Friday dismissed the petitions filed by the PTI in the reserved seats case, declaring that the party will not be eligible for them in the national and provincial assemblies.
The case was heard by a 10-member bench of the top court, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan. The petitions were accepted by a majority of seven judges to five, with Justices Aminuddin Khan, Mussarat Hilali, Naeem Akhtar Afghan, Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, Amir Farooq and Aleem Hakim Najafi voting in favour.
Following the verdict, the decision of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) was upheld, while the apex court’s July 2024 judgment was set aside. Accordingly, the PTI’s petitions were dismissed, making the party ineligible for the 39 reserved seats.
“On the first date of hearing … have dismissed all the usual petitions for detailed reasons to be recorded later subject to amplification or elucidation as will be deemed appropriate, by a majority of seven,” Justice Khan said while reading the short order.
“All review petitions are allowed. An impugned majority judgment dated July 12, 2024, is set aside. Petitions filed by the SIC are dismissed, and the judgment rendered by the Peshawar High Court is reinstated.”
Meanwhile, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail allowed review petitions and maintained his original order regarding 39 seats, but reviewed the majority judgment to the extent of 41 seats, according to the short order.
The reserved seats will now be allocated to other political parties, including PML-N, PPP, JUI-F, and other parties.
The short order of today’s verdict, seen by media.com, noted that Justice Salahuddin Panhwar recused himself, so the bench was reconstituted with all the available members of the Constitutional Bench.
“Initially, this Constitutional Bench was constituted for the hearing of the aforesaid review petitions by 13 honourable Judges of this Court, but two of them — Justice Ayesha A Malik and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi — on the first date of hearing dismissed all the review petitions,” the order read.
“For detailed reasons to be recorded later, by majority of seven, all civil review petitions are allowed and the impugned majority judgment dated July 12, 2024, is set aside,” the order read. “As a consequence thereof, Civil Appeals number 333 of 2024 and 334 of 2024 filed by the SIC are dismissed and the judgment rendered by the Peshawar High Court is restored.”
Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail partly allowed the review petitions and maintained his original order with regard to 39 seats, but reviewed the majority judgment to the extent of the remaining 41 seats.
The court instructed the Election Commission of Pakistan to examine and consider the nomination and declaration appers, as well as any other relevant documents, of all 80 returned candidates “by means of de novo exercise with regard to their affiliation and take appropriate decision in accordance with law and applicable rules for allocation of reserve seats”.
The ECP has 15 days from receiving the copy of the short order to carry out the court’s instructions.
Reacting to the verdict in a post on X, the PTI termed the decision “the funeral of constitutional, judicial traditions, and justice.”
PHC 2024 decision
In March 2024, the PHC had dismissed the Sunni Ittehad Council’s petition challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision to reject the party allocation of reserved women and minority seats.
In a 4-1 verdict, the electoral watchdog ruled that the SIC was not entitled to claim quota for reserved seats “due to having non-curable legal defects and violation of a mandatory provision of submission of party list for reserved seats, which is the requirement of law”.
The SIC — joined by PTI-backed independents who won the elections sans their electoral symbol — had filed the petition through its chairman, Sahibzada Muhammad Hamid Raza, seeking directives of the court for the ECP to allocate reserved seats to the council based on their strength in the national and provincial assemblies.
The commission had also decided to distribute the seats among other parliamentary parties, with the PML-N and the PPP becoming major beneficiaries. The decision was challenged by the PTI in the top court.
On July 13, the apex court, in a unique majority verdict, declared the PTI eligible to receive reserved seats for women and non-Muslims in the national and provincial assemblies, giving it a new lease of life in the legislature by declaring it to be a parliamentary party.
However, the ruling was not implemented by the National Assembly, while the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had raised some objections. The review petitions against the SC order had been filed by the PML-N, the PPP and the ECP.
Today’s hearing
Earlier in the day, when the court resumed the hearing of the review petitions in the reserved seats case, Justice Salahuddin Panhwar recused himself from the bench following an objection from senior counsel Hamid Khan.
More to follow
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