In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has overturned the denial of reserved seats to the PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC). The decision, reported by ARY News on Friday, was delivered by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, who announced the 8-5 majority verdict.
The SIC, an ally of the PTI, had filed a petition against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) after it allocated reserved seats to the ruling coalition, excluding PTI. Justices Athar Minallah, Shahid Waheed, Muneeb Akhtar, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha Malik, Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, and Irfan Saadat Khan ruled in favor of the PTI.
The Supreme Court’s ruling nullified the Peshawar High Court’s previous order, which had upheld the ECP’s decision. The ECP’s decision to allocate reserved seats to other parties was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, thus accepting SIC’s petition and making the party eligible for the allocation of reserved seats.
The court acknowledged PTI as a political party and mandated it to submit a list of reserved seat candidates to the ECP within 15 days. The verdict emphasized that PTI candidates could not be declared independent nor representatives of any other party, correcting the ECP’s previous misclassification.
The full bench, including Chief Justice of Pakistan ISA and 12 other Justices, had reserved its verdict on Tuesday after hearings on SIC’s appeals. The issue arose after over 80 PTI-backed independent candidates won in the February 8 elections. SIC approached the ECP on February 21 for reserved seat allocation, which was denied on March 4 due to PTI’s failure to submit a candidates list.
The Supreme Court’s decision impacts the composition of the National Assembly and could affect the ruling coalition’s majority, marking a significant political shift.
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