PHC dismisses SIC's pleas against allotment of reserved seats to other parties

PESHAWAR (92 News) - A five-member larger bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday dismissed the pleas filed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) against the allotment of the reserved seats to other parties.

The bench headed by Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim heard the case for two days. Barrister Ali Zafar, counsel for the SIC, completed his arguments.

Justice Syed Arshad Ali remarked that the Article 51 clearly states that reserved seats would be given after the victory. Barrister Ali Zafar contended that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had wrongly interpreted the Article 140.

Justice Ijaz Anwar remarked that the SIC was considering itself a political party despite winning no seat in the general elections. Earlier, the court had reserved the verdict.

Talking to the media, PTI leader Barrister Gohar Ali has announced to move the Supreme Court against the verdict of the Peshawar High Court.

He said that the parliament cannot be complete without the reserve seats. "We do not accept the victory of the government. They have come on the basis of Form 47. We will have introduce several reforms to run the parliament," he added.

Barrister Gohar said that the PTI founder was being victimized. "The Senate candidates from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be announced by tomorrow," he declared.