In a significant legal maneuver, the Supreme Court has intervened in the ongoing dispute concerning reserved seats for women and minorities, suspending the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) verdict denying such allocations to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), which has become the new political home for PTI lawmakers-elect.
A three-member bench, presided over by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah, addressed an appeal brought forward by the SIC against the PHC’s ruling.
The genesis of this legal tussle lies in the aftermath of the February 8 elections, where PTI-backed independent candidates rallied under the SIC banner following the loss of their party’s electoral symbol ‘bat.’
However, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) later invalidated SIC’s claim to reserved seats, citing legal deficiencies and non-compliance with mandatory submission requirements. Instead, the commission redistributed these seats among other parliamentary entities, notably benefitting the PML-N and PPP. PTI contested this decision, labelling it unconstitutional.
In March, the PHC further compounded SIC’s woes by upholding the ECP’s ruling, denying the party access to reserved seats.
Seeking recourse, the SIC, led by party chief Sahibzada Hamid Raza, petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the PHC’s judgment.
During the recent hearing, SIC’s legal counsel, Faisal Siddiqui, presented arguments before the court, with the Attorney General of Pakistan, Mansoor Usman Awan, and an ECP representative also summoned to provide input.
In a decisive move, the Supreme Court suspended the PHC’s decision, granting approval for the SIC’s appeal to be heard, thereby injecting fresh momentum into the legal battle over reserved seats.