SC suspends PHC’s verdict against allocating reserved seats to Sunni Ittehad Council

The Supreme Court (SC) suspended on Monday the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) order against allocating reserved seats to Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

The SIC is the new home to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-backed independent candidates.

A three-member bench headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and including Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah took up an SIC appeal against the PHC order.

On March 14, the PHC rejected petitions filed by the SIC for the reserved seats of women and minorities.

Justice Shakeel Ahmed said told Barrister Ali Zafar that “the law uses the word secure, you didn’t secure the seats”.

“Your case of the Sunni Ittehad Council, the PTI joined it, both of them didn’t contest the election.

The reserved seats can be secured when the political parties have won the seats,“ Justice Syed Arshad Ali said.

“You had time after the Supreme Court decision to hold the intra-party election, but you didn’t.”

In March, a five-member bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja had rejected the SIC’s petition seeking the allocation of reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies.

The ECP announced the verdict with a 4-1 majority, saying the SIC was not entitled to reserved seats.

In its decision, the electoral body said the SIC is not entitled to claim quota for reserved seats due to having “non-curable legal defects and violation of a mandatory provision of submission of party list for reserved seats which is the requirement of the law”.

“The seats in the National Assembly shall not remain vacant and will be allotted by proportional representation process of political parties based on seats won by political parties,” the order said.