Supreme Court Pakistan’s Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa questioned PTI’s decision to align with the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC). The query arose during the Supreme Court Pakistan’s hearing on the SIC’s plea against the Peshawar High Court’s ruling on reserved seats.
Chief Justice Isa led the full court hearing and recalled the time when the Supreme Court Pakistan set an election date. He reminded PTI that they tried to delay elections by filing a petition in the Lahore High Court. Chief Justice Isa also highlighted that a three-member bench of the Supreme Court Pakistan failed to conduct elections.
He criticized PTI’s founder and Prime Minister, Imran Khan, for not holding intra-party elections. The Chief Justice emphasized the importance of adhering to the constitution regarding reserved seats. He stated that judges must follow the law or discard it entirely, without selectively choosing which laws to observe.
On June 22, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) informed the Supreme Court Pakistan that SIC is not entitled to reserved seats. The ECP’s reply stated that Hamid Raza-led SIC failed to submit its nominees list by the December 24 deadline. The ECP noted that independent candidates joined SIC post-elections, leading to a 4-1 decision against granting SIC reserved seats. The Peshawar High Court upheld this decision, which the ECP defended as error-free.
The ECP further explained to the Supreme Court Pakistan that SIC’s constitution prohibits non-Muslims from becoming members, which is unconstitutional. Consequently, SIC does not qualify for reserved seats for women and minorities.
On May 6, the Supreme Court Pakistan suspended the ECP and Peshawar High Court’s verdicts regarding SIC’s reserved seats. A three-member bench, led by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, suspended the verdicts pending a hearing on the case.
The election commission allocated the reserved seats for women and minorities among various political parties. In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, one reserved seat each went to Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). In the Sindh Assembly, reserved seats for women were given to Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and PPP. Additionally, PPP’s Sadhu Mal secured a minority seat in the Sindh Assembly.
The ECP also allocated three minority reserved seats to PML-N, PPP, and JUI-F, which SIC claimed. PML-N’s Neelam Meghwar, PPP’s Ramesh Kumar, and JUI-F’s James Iqbal were elected to these seats.
