Muhammad Latif
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court overruled the decision of the Peshawar High Court and the Election Commission in the case of Sunni Ittehad Council reserved seats and declared Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf entitled to reserved seats.
On March 14, a 5-member larger bench of the Peshawar High Court unanimously rejected the petition against the non-allocation of reserved seats of the Sunni Ittehad Council.
A 13-member full bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faiz Isa declared the Election Commission’s decision unconstitutional. The decision was written by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah.
Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandukhel, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Athar Manullah, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Irfan. Saadat Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar are part of the Afghan Full Court.
Justice Qazi Faiz Isa said that the decision is in the ratio of 8/5, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Irfan Saadat and Justice Athar Man. Allah gave the majority decision.
While Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faiz Isa, Justice Jamal Mandukhel, Justice Naeem Afghan, Justice Aminuddin Khan, and Justice Yahya Afridi opposed the petitions.
The Supreme Court remarked that withdrawal of election symbols cannot disqualify a political party from elections, PTI is entitled to certain seats, and PTI was and is a political party.
According to the court decision, out of 80 independent members, 39 members belong to Tehreek-e-Insaaf, the remaining 41 members should clarify in 15 days from which party they contested the election. The Election Commission should confirm and declare the relevant members as members of the political party, and give the list of specific seats to the Election Commission within 15 days, the decision will apply to all national and provincial assemblies.
The court rejected the appeal regarding the Sunni Ittehad Council seats.
It may be recalled that on July 9, the Supreme Court had reserved its verdict on the case related to the specific seats of the Sunni Unity Council.
