The Supreme Court reserved its verdict on the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) plea for reserved seats.
A 13-member full court, led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, heard the plea. The bench included Justices Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Muneeb Akhtar, Yahya Afridi, Aminuddin Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha A. Malik, Athar Minallah, Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Shahid Waheed, Irfan Saadat Khan, and Naeem Akhtar Afghan.
Arguments Presented by SIC Counsel
SIC counsel Faisal Siddiqui argued that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) failed in its duty. He promised a brief 15-minute argument. Advocate Siddiqui claimed the ECP argued SIC did not participate in the elections or submit a candidate list for reserved seats.
He noted that the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) won no seats in 2018 but got three reserved seats. He accused the ECP of a biased response regarding the BAP election.
The issue was raised before the ECP before approaching the Supreme Court. Siddiqui stated the ECP’s claim was contrary to its documents, calling it a distortion of facts.
Justice Mandokhail asked if the ECP decision was constitutional. Siddiqui confirmed it was lawful in 2018. Justice Minallah asked if the decision on BAP’s reserved seats was challenged. Siddiqui replied the ECP should have admitted a mistake but acted as if the decision did not exist.
Supreme Court Suspends ECP and PHC Verdicts
After hearing the arguments, the SC reserved its verdict. On May 6, the Supreme Court suspended the ECP and Peshawar High Court verdict on SIC’s reserved seats. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, heading a three-member bench, suspended the verdict on reserved seat allocation to other parties. He stated the case was fixed for hearing, and the ECP and PHC verdicts were suspended.
The ECP allocated reserved seats for women and minorities among various parties. In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, the ECP allocated one reserved seat each to Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
In the Sindh Assembly, reserved seats for women were allocated to Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and PPP. PPP’s Samita Afzal and MQM-P’s Fouzia Hameed were elected. PPP’s Sadhu Mal alias Surinder Valasai secured a minority seat.
The ECP allocated three minority seats to PML-N, PPP, and JUI-F, which SIC claimed. PML-N’s Neelam Meghwar, PPP’s Ramesh Kumar, and JUI-F’s James Iqbal were elected on the minority seats.
