PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) larger bench will hear the Sunni Union Council (SIC)’s plea seeking allocation of reserved seats for women and minorities.
The two-member bench of Peshawar High Court on Wednesday barred the oath-taking of lawmakers of (National Assembly and KP Assembly) notified on reserved seats denied to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) and returned the plea to the Chief Justice for larger bench.
According to the details, the PHC five-member bench comprising Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, Justice Aijaz Anwer, Justice SM Atiq, Justice Shakeel Ahmed, and Justice Syed Arshad Ali would take up the plea on Thursday at 12noon. The PHC also issued notices to the ECP and other respondents.
The SIC approached the PHC against the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) verdict of not allotting it reserved seats in the National and provincial assemblies.
The ECP on Tuesday notified the allocation of reserved seats for women and minorities, which were claimed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) to other political parties.
The move came a day after the electoral body rejected the SIC petition, seeking the allocation of reserved seats following a merger with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Following the allocation of reserved seats, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) became the largest parliamentary party in the National Assembly (NA) with 123 seats followed by the PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) with 82 seats. Meanwhile, Bilawal Bhutto-led Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) managed to secure 73 seats.
