SC declares PTI eligible for reserved seats

ISLAMABAD (92 News) - The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday nullified the verdict of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the Peshawar High Court (PHC), declaring the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) eligible for reserved seats for women and minorities.

The verdict was announced by a majority 8-5. According to the verdict authored by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, the ECP judgment is against the constitution. “The PTI was a political party and still it is a political party. Denial of the election symbol does not bar any party from contesting the elections. The withdrawal of the election symbol cannot stop a political party from contesting the elections,” it ruled.

The verdict states that the ECP had wrongly interpreted the judgment of the SC. The court asked the PTI parliamentarians to submit an affidavit of the PTI. It ordered the PTI to provide a list to the ECP for reserved seats.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Syed Hassan Rizvi and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan favoured the judgment. Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Jamal Mandokhel, Justice Naeem Afghan and Justice Aminudddin Khan opposed the verdict.

The five judges, in the minority judgment, stated that the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) is not eligible for the reserved seats and the appeal against the PHC verdict is dismissed. In a note, the chief justice and Justice Mandokhel wrote that the SIC is not eliigible for the reserved seats. Justice Jamal Mandokhel and the two judges wrote their separate dissenting notes.