Reserved seats case: SC hears SIC’s plea challenging PHC’s judgment

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday conducted live hearing of a petition filed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) against the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) verdict.

PHC has denied SIC reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies.

Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, the 13-member bench comprises all Supreme Court judges expect Justice Musarrat Hilali due to her heart ailment.

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The development comes after a three-member SC bench headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, and comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah, suspended the PHC verdict on May 6 and referred the matter to the judges’ committee for the formation of a larger bench. The three-member bench said that the matter required constitutional interpretation.

In its written order, the Supreme Court stated that the questions of allocation of reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies touch upon the foundational constitutional concept of parliamentary democracy that the voice of the electorate is truly reflected in the composition of the assemblies.

Earlier this year in April, SIC Chief Sahibzada Hamid Raza and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati had filed appeals in the apex court against the judgment of the PHC, praying to allot the party 67 women and 11 minority seats in the assemblies, besides praying for setting aside the high court’s verdict.

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Following the February 8 general elections, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decided not to allocate reserved seats for women and minorities to the SIC as it had not submitted its list of candidates for those seats before elections, as per the ECP rules. The decision was also upheld by the PHC. – INP