Amidst the ongoing dispute over reserved seats, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) resumed the hearing of a petition filed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), supported by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), seeking the allocation of reserved seats on Wednesday.
PHC Chief Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan leads the five-member bench, including Justice Ijaz Anwar, Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, Justice Shakeel Ahmad, and Justice Arshad Ali.
The SIC had taken the matter to court after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected their request for reserved seats. This decision led to the PTI-backed SIC losing a total of 77 reserved seats, covering various assemblies.
The ECP’s ruling prompted the SIC to secure a stay order from the PHC, preventing the oath-taking of lawmakers who were notified of the reserved seats denied to the party. Despite the court’s order, four MNAs elected on reserved seats took oath in the National Assembly, leading to protests by the opposition benches.
Chief Justice Ibrahim Khan clarified that those sworn in did not commit contempt of court, emphasizing that the court’s stay order only applied to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
In today’s proceedings, Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan emphasized that the SIC did not participate in the elections and reserved seats are allocated to parliamentary parties. He pointed out that the SIC did not submit any list for the allocation of reserved seats.
During the hearing, Justice Ishtiaq questioned whether any SIC candidate secured victory in the February 8 polls. SIC’s lawyer Qazi Anwar replied in the negative. Justice Arshad inquired about whether the SIC submitted the list for reserved seats by February 21, considering that the SIC chief contested the election as an independent candidate. The petitioner’s lawyer explained that the SIC submitted the list after PTI-backed independent candidates joined the party.
The attorney general mentioned that reserved seats could only be allocated to a party if it has representation in the legislature, emphasizing the importance of not leaving reserved seats vacant for the completeness of the parliament. The judge suggested that the court might revoke the interim relief given in the case.
The intricate legal proceedings continue as the PHC examines the details of the case surrounding the allocation of reserved seats for the SIC in light of the Election Commission’s decision.