SC announces detailed verdict on reserved seats case

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court has announced the detailed verdict of reserved seats case. The detailed decision consists of 70 pages. The detailed judgment has been written by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah.

A summary decision on reserved seats case was announced on July 12, 2024 at the plea of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC). The verdict was not unanimous, as Justice Aminuddin and Justice Naeem Afghan did not agree with the majority’s ruling.

The judgement deals with several constitutional queries, including the consequences of declaring a political party ineligible to obtain an election symbol under Section 215(5) of the Elections Act 2017, and does such a declaration affect the political party’s other constitutional and statutory rights.

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Another topic discussed in detail is that can a candidate nominated by a political party ineligible to obtain an election symbol be mentioned as an independent candidate in the list of contesting candidates (Form-33), and can such a returned candidate be notified as an independent returned candidate.

The apex court has also ordered that the detailed judgement also be published in Urdu. The Urdu translation will also be made part of the case record and uploaded on the website.

The judgement says that an election dispute is fundamentally different from other civil disputes, and that the big stake in the election belongs to the people.

The judgement says that according to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the PTI members were voted for being PTI’s candidates. This is despite the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision of March 1 that declared PTI as not having any legal status. The judgement deemed ECP’s decision to be against the Constitution, and declared PTI as a political party.

The Supreme Court also clarified its decision on giving relief to PTI. The judgement says that PTI is entitled to reserved seats in the National Assembly, and that the Constitution and law do not prevent any citizen from contesting elections.

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Transparent elections are necessary for the will of the people and democracy, the court said, adding that the Constitution empowers the people to take their own path. People’s vote is important for democratic governance and the ECP should notify PTI candidates on certain seats, the detailed judgement said.

The detailed judgement has also been uploaded on Supreme Court’s website.