ISLAMABAD – Supreme Court is set to announce its verdict on appeals filed by Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) against Peshawar High Court and the ECP denial of reserved seats for women and non-Muslims.
Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa led three member bench will announce verdict at 9am. Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) held a large protest outside the apex court today as the verdict was awaited.
The cause list, issued on Thursday evening, said the decision will be revealed on Friday. It also mentioned that the full court will not be present. The meeting included Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan. Sources indicate that the judges discussed the legal arguments and precedents regarding the SIC’s claim for reserved seats.
This ruling is said to be crucial for the political representation of the Sunni community in Pakistan, eagerly anticipated by both the government and the SIC. Earlier this week, the apex court reserved its ruling on the SIC appeals.
Members of Imran Khan’s political party, the PTI, had to run as independent candidates in the February general elections after the Supreme Court ruled that the party’s internal elections were flawed. Consequently, PTI candidates were not allowed to use the party’s cricket bat symbol during the campaign. Despite this, PTI-backed candidates won the most seats in the National Assembly and joined the SIC to secure reserved seats.
Reserved seats are allocated to political parties in proportion to the number of general seats won during elections, promoting greater political representation and inclusion of traditionally underrepresented groups. The ECP, however, decided not to allocate the reserved seats to the SIC on “technical grounds,” redistributing the SIC’s share among other parties.
The outcome of this case could significantly impact the National Assembly’s composition, with Khan’s party hoping to win 78 reserved seats that were given to rival parties in the elections. In a letter to the apex court, the ECP reiterated that the SIC was ineligible for the reserved seats, stating there was “no flaw” in the ECP’s and PHC’s decisions, which were “under the Constitution and law.” The ECP also noted that non-Muslims cannot be SIC members under the party’s constitution.
