The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday declared the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and not its affiliated Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) eligible for reserved seats in all assemblies, overturning a Peshawar High Court (PHC) ruling that had validated the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)’s decision to deny the party its share.
Announced by senior puisne judge Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, the 8-5 majority verdict was supported by Justices Athar Minallah, Shahid Waheed, Muneeb Akhtar, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha Malik, Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi and Irfan Saadat Khan. It set aside the PHC ruling that had upheld the ECP’s order declaring the SIC ineligible for reserved seats.
The majority verdict also declared the ECP order allocating reserved seats to other parties as ultra vires of the Constitution and with no legal effect and similarly reversed its list of returned candidates for women and minorities on the contested seats. The ruling stated that the lack, or denial, of an election symbol does not affect the legal rights of a political party to participate in elections. “The PTI was and remains a political party,” read out Justice Mansoor Ali Shah.
Noting that during proceedings, the ECP had submitted a list of 80 returned candidates, now MNAs, of whom 39 had declared themselves members of the PTI but were considered independents by the ECP due to its faulty interpretation of the apex court ruling on the PTI’s election symbol. These individuals would be considered PTI candidates by the ECP, it said, while any of the remaining 41 returned candidates could also, within two weeks, submit declarations as members of the PTI, with the ECP ordered to issue a list confirming their party affiliation.
As a consequence of the aforesaid order, read out Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, the number of general seats secured by the PTI would be increased accordingly and it would get reserved seats in line with its numerical standing.
Of the five judges who dissented against the majority judgment—Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and Justices Yahya Afridi, Aminuddin Khan, Naeem Akhtar, and Jamal Khan Mandokhail—Justice Afridi dismissed the petitions against the PHC order. He observed the SIC did not fulfill the conditions of a political party under Pakistan’s Constitution and thus did not qualify for reserved seats. However, he added, the PTI does fulfill the conditions for a political party and should be granted its shared of reserved seats if any returned candidates had submitted documents confirming their membership of the party and had not given any indication of belonging to another party.
Justices Aminuddin Khan Naeem Akhtar, meanwhile, dismissed the petitions. Justice Mandokhail’s note, backed by the CJP, also disposed of the petitions, observing the SIC did not contest the elections and did not secure any seats. As such, it said, the SIC was not entitled to reserved seats in any assembly.
Reserved seats case
The case stems from more than 80 PTI candidates, who contested polls as independents, joining the SIC after the Feb. 8 general elections in a bid to claim seats reserved for minorities and women. However, the ECP denied it any reserved seats after noting the party had failed to submit its list of candidates and had not won a single seat in the general elections.
The SIC then approached the PHC, which upheld the electoral body’s decision on the matter. The party appealed the verdict in the Supreme Court, seeking the allocation of 67 women and 11 minority seats in the assemblies. The plea was opposed by the federal government, the ECP and political parties PMLN, PPP, JUIF who had benefited from the ECP’s decision.