Reserved seats case: hearing adjourned till May 29

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has adjourned the hearing of review petitions related to reserved seats till May 29.

The hearing was conducted by an 11-member larger bench headed by Justice Aminuddin, in which Sunni Ittehad Council lawyer Faisal Siddiqui continued the arguments.

During the hearing, Justice Jamal Mandokhel asked the lawyer whether he was supporting or opposing the review? To which lawyer Faisal Siddiqui replied with a smile, “ we win even after losing.”

Faisal Siddiqui told the court that in the main case, he was PTI’s lawyer and is now representing Sunni Ittehad Council.

On this, Justice Musarrat Hilali raised a question as to how he could represent PTI? Did he get permission for this? The lawyer took the stand that based on the facts of the case, this permission was not required.

The lawyer took the position that the Election Commission had recognised the Sunni Ittehad Council as a parliamentary party and a large number of independent candidates had joined this party.

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According to him, the commission had three options: the seats would be given to the Sunni Ittehad Council, given to other parties out of proportion, or these seats would be left vacant.

Faisal Siddiqui said that 11 out of 13 judges ruled that these seats should go to the PTI, and the review was filed only against the minority decision. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said that it is interesting that the review relied on the decision of Justice Mandokhel.

The court remarked that in the decision, half of the winning candidates were allowed to join a political party, so wouldn’t it have been better if this right was given to all the candidates? To which Faisal Siddiqui said: “You are right, my defeat is my victory.”

Faisal Siddiqui further said that PTI had applied to contest the elections on an ideological ticket, but later the chairman of the ideological group while talking to the media, refused to give the tickets, after which the Election Commission refused to give the PTI an election symbol.

The Supreme Court adjourned further hearing of the case until Wednesday, May 29, when Sunni Ittehad Council lawyer Faisal Siddiqui will continue his arguments.