ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Tuesday filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking review and suspension of its ruling on reserved seats.
The Supreme Court had previously overturned the denial of reserved seats to PTI in a ruling dated May 12. The PPP’s plea, submitted by Barrister Farooq Naik, also requested that the court’s July 12 order be put on hold until a decision is made on the review petition.
The PPP argued that the Supreme Court did not formally address the issue of granting special seats to PTI and that the court’s order was silent on the actual dispute. According to the petition, the July 12 decision contradicted the agreed interpretation of the constitution and did not invalidate Article 51 and Section 104.
The PPP contended that the court’s findings were inconsistent with both the constitution and the law, and failed to address the petitions of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) and other parties. The PPP highlighted that SIC and PTI are separate entities and argued that giving 15 days to 41 members was unconstitutional, especially as none of the 80 SIC members appeared before the court.
The petition further challenged the decision to declare 39 members affiliated with PTI, asserting that PTI was not a party to any relevant forum.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah announced an 8-5 split verdict in favor of PTI on the petition filed by SIC, an ally of PTI. Justices Athar Minallah, Shahid Waheed, Muneeb Akhtar, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha Malik, Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, and Irfan Saadat Khan were part of the majority ruling. The Supreme Court also nullified the Peshawar High Court’s order, which had upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision regarding the reserved seats in assemblies.
