Supreme Court adjourns SIC’s reserved seats plea hearing until tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has resumed the hearing of the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) appeal against the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) decision, which upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) ruling denying them reserved seats.

The 13-member full-court SC bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, is overseeing the case. The bench includes Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan.

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At the previous hearing on June 27, Justice Minallah commented on the ECP’s lack of authority to disqualify any party from elections. CJP Isa had queried why the ECP shouldn’t consider the candidates as belonging to the PTI. Lawyer Sikandar Bashir Mohmand, representing the ECP, had started his arguments.

Today, Mohmand’s arguments continue. He has indicated his intent to conclude his arguments within half an hour. Mohmand has argued that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) party tickets were signed by Barrister Gohar as Chairman, but at the time of issuance, PTI lacked a legal organisational structure due to improper intra-party elections.

Justice Jamal Mandokhail noted that party tickets were issued on December 22, while the intra-party election case decision was on January 13, during which time Barrister Gohar was the chairman. Mohmand pointed out that the ECP declared the intra-party elections null and void on December 23, a decision that was suspended on December 26.

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Justice Mansoor Ali Shah asked where the mistake originated and who was responsible. Mohmand responded that many candidates did not list party affiliation, which is why they would be considered independent. Justice Mandokhail emphasised that party tickets are crucial; without them, candidates are considered independents.

Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan also submitted a 30-page written submission urging the Supreme Court to reject the SIC’s appeal. At the same time, the PTI has also moved the apex court seeking to become a party in the said case.

PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan also appeared in the court today and said that he had submitted two documents to the ECP, one as an independent candidate and one as a PTI-backed candidate, but the ECP only brought independent candidate documents.

The court also heard arguments from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Barrister Harris Azmat among others.

The hearing has been adjourned until tomorrow 11:30 AM, with the apex court saying that the proceedings have to be finished by 1:30 PM tomorrow (July 2).