ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday postponed until July 12 its verdict on a petition filed by the opposition Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) seeking its fair share of seats in national and provincial assemblies.
A 13-member bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa was hearing a petition filed by the SIC, backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), challenging the Peshawar High Court’s decision upholding the Election Commission’s decision to reject the allocation of parliamentary seats.
The petition was filed after the apex electoral body rejected the SIC’s petition seeking allocation of 70 seats in the National Assembly and 156 seats in the four provincial assemblies.
Chief Justice Isa on Thursday announced that the hearing committee had decided to reserve the judgment for mutual consultation.
Currently, the docket issued by the court after the consultative meeting states that the three-judge regular bench, headed by Chief Justice Isa, will issue a brief judgment on Friday, July 12.
The SIC staged large protests outside the court ahead of Thursday’s ruling.
After winning the election, candidates backed by 71-year-old Khan’s party joined the SIC, bringing it into the spotlight, as the PTI was not allowed to contest elections and was not eligible to win seats reserved for women and minorities.
Seats were awarded to the winning party based on proportional representation.
Just before the general election, the PTI was stripped of its iconic cricket bat symbol by the Election Commission of India (ECP) for failing to conduct internal elections in accordance with the party rules, forcing it to field independent candidates.
The winning PTI candidates participated in the SIC to ensure their due quota of reserved seats.
However, the ECP rejected SIC’s plea to reserve the seat, saying that he had not contested the election and that his strength had increased after an independently selected candidate backed by the PTI joined the party after the election.
The party also lost its appeal against the ECP’s decision in the PHC and subsequently moved the Supreme Court.
On May 6, in a major relief to the PTI, the Supreme Court suspended the PHC’s decision rejecting the SIC petition.
Following this ruling, on May 14, the ECP suspended notification of 77 candidates from other parties who had been declared winners in reserved seats.
The Supreme Court’s final ruling in the case will determine the fate of 77 seats. While the current power structure may not change, the shift in the overall contest for seats in Parliament could have an impact on the country’s lawmaking process.
Published July 11, 2024 19:37 IST
