Chief Justice demands answers on lack of transparency in reserved seats ruling

ISLAMABAD: On Saturday, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa raised several questions regarding the Supreme Court’s order of September 14, concerning reserved seats in the parliament.

The CJP issued an administrative order seeking clarification from the Supreme Court registrar on the ruling passed by eight apex court judges. The CJP’s inquiries aim to resolve ambiguities in the order related to the verification of political affiliations of returned candidates in the national and provincial assemblies.

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As per media reports, the chief justice’s questions primarily focus on how the political affiliation of members of the national and provincial assemblies (MNAs and MPAs) will be verified, especially given the lack of a formal organisational structure within the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) at present. This issue arose after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) petitioned the court for guidance on implementing a July 12 ruling concerning reserved seats.

In response, the PTI filed a civil miscellaneous appeal, asserting that the ECP was incorrectly interpreting the July 12 ruling by claiming it faced difficulties implementing it due to PTI’s lack of organisational structure. Despite this, the eight-judge bench directed the ECP to implement the ruling and warned that failure to comply with the court’s order could lead to serious consequences.

The CJP, seeking clarity on the process, posed nine questions to the registrar’s office, including when the relevant applications were filed, why they were not addressed by the committee established under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023, and how they were processed without a cause list.

The CJP also asked why no notices were issued to the relevant parties and why the order was uploaded on the Supreme Court’s website without being officially announced or filed.