The Supreme Court has suspended a decision made by the Peshawar High Court and the Election Commission of Pakistan regarding the allocation of reserved seats in legislative assemblies.
This decision was related to whether these seats should go to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) or be distributed among other parties.
A three-judge panel led by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, along with Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah, heard the case concerning the allocation of reserved seats for the Sunni Ittehad Council in both the National Assembly and provincial assemblies.
Previously, objections were raised by women lawmakers holding reserved seats and the federal government, who argued that a larger bench of five members should hear the case under the Practice and Procedure Act. However, the court rejected this objection, asserting that the current bench could handle the appeals.
The Sunni Ittehad Council and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly speaker filed appeals against the Peshawar High Court’s decision not to allocate reserved seats to the SIC. The Election Commission’s stance was upheld by the Peshawar High Court, which rejected SIC’s applications for reserved seats and their distribution among other political parties on March 14.