ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday suspended the Peshawar High Court’s decision on plea seeking reserved seats for Sunni Ittehad Council.
On March 14, a five-member larger bench of the Peshawar High Court had rejected the petition against the denial of special seats to the Sunni Council.
A SC three-member bench led by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah passed the order on appeal against the PHC order.
Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah were the other members of the bench.
During the hearing, the federal government requested the formation of a larger bench.
An additional attorney general argued that only the larger bench can hear the appeals, but the court rejected the objection.
The female members nominated for the reserved seats in the assembly also raised objections before the bench.
Advocate for female members of the assembly informed the court that it is a matter of interpretation of Article 51 of the Constitution, and a case can be heard by a five-member bench according to the Practice and Procedure Law.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah remarked that the current case is being heard under Article 185 of the Constitution for appeals, not under Article 184/3.
He further remarked that a decision would be made upon the maintainability of the appeals, and once it is established, the larger bench would also consider the matter.
Advocate Faisal Siddiqui presented arguments on behalf of the Sunni Ittehad Council.
He stated that elected members of the PTI have joined the Sunni Council, which led Justice Mansoor Ali Shah to ask whether these seven candidates are currently part of the National Assembly.
Justice Athar Minallah asked if PTI is a registered political party.
Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar asked how many days it takes for independent candidates to join a party.
Advocate Faisal Siddiqui explained that independent candidates must join a political party within three days to become part of the National Assembly.
Justice Athar Minallah inquired if a political party without an electoral symbol would deprive its candidates of representation rights.
Faisal Siddiqui informed the court that a political party can become a parliamentary party by participating in elections.
Alternatively, if a political party does not participate in elections and its independent winning candidates join that party, they become part of that party.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah asked how the distribution of reserved seats among political parties is determined.
Faisal Siddiqui stated that a political party cannot take more special seats than its proportion.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah emphasized the protection of the public mandate.
During the hearing, Justice Athar Minallah observed that political parties can receive special seats in proportion to their elected seats.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah questioned where it is written that if a party does not receive electoral symbols, it cannot contest elections.
Justice Athar Minallah inquired whether the seats left vacant can be distributed to other parties.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah questioned how it is possible for one party to give its mandate to another.
Justice Athar Minallah stated that whatever cannot be done directly cannot be done indirectly either, is it right to overlook a political party’s mandate directly?
Later, the Supreme Court suspended the decision of the Peshawar High Court regarding the allocation of special reserved seats to other political parties and allowed the appeals of the Sunni Ittehad Council.
