ECP in control of reserved seats' formula, can declare any candidate independent: SC judge

• Accepted fact PTI failed to hold intra-party polls in year's time: CJP.
• Justice Mansoor says court wants every party to get its due right.
• SC directs ECP to submit documents on reserved seats formula.

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court's Justice Ayesha Malik Monday said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is in control of the formula for the allocation of reserved seats, giving it the power to declare any candidate as independent.

"The ECP can declare anyone independent as per its will," Justice Malik said as a 13-member full-court SC bench heard the Sunni Ittehad Council's (SIC) plea against the Peshawar High Court's (PHC) verdict upholding the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) decision denying them the reserved seats.

The bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, comprises Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan.

During the hearing today, ECP's lawyer Sikander Bashir apprised the court that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Inaf (PTI) issued party affiliation certificates along with Form 66, which were signed by Barrister Gohar Khan.

However, the counsel contended that nomination papers filed by the party's candidates weren't valid since it had neither held intra-party polls at that time nor had elected a party chairman.

Commenting on the issue of intra-party polls, CJP Isa noted that it is an accepted fact that the PTI failed to hold elections within the party despite being given a year's time.

Furthermore, Justice Ayesha inquired about the electoral body's counsel regarding the KP advocate general's argument wherein he maintained that the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) was allocated reserved seats despite failure to submit the list of candidates.

"You [ECP] didn't take any action against the BAP," the judge remarked, further asking the electoral body if it had held any meeting on the said issue regarding the aforesaid party.

Meanwhile, Justice Mansoor stressed that the court wants every political party to be given its due rights.

"The court wants to ensure that no party is given more or less seats than what is due to it," he said.

The court then directed the ECP to submit the details of the reserved seats allocated in 2024 along with the documents regarding the relevant formula and adjourned the hearing till 11:30am Tuesday (tomorrow).

The whole reserved seats issue holds significance as the PTI-backed independent candidates, who make up the majority of the opposition benches, lost as many as 77 reserved seats in NA and provincial assemblies due to the PHC's verdict.

The issue first emerged after the PTI-backed independent candidates emerged victorious in the February 8 elections and subsequently joined the SIC in a bid to claim seats reserved for minorities and women.

However, the PTI suffered a setback after the ECP, citing the party's failure to submit its list of candidates, denied allocating the reserved seats to the SIC.

The party then approached the PHC which upheld the electoral body's decision on the matter.

Subsequently, the SIC moved the SC seeking to set aside the PHC verdict and the allocation of 67 women and 11 minority seats in the assemblies.

They eventually ended up in the apex court where the ECP has maintained that the reserved seats cannot be allotted to the SIC as the party did not submit the list of candidates before the January 24 deadline.

Whereas, the federal government, via Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan submitted its written response to the apex court urging it to reject the SIC's appeal seeking the allocation of reserved seats for women and minorities in the National and provincial assemblies.

The 30-page written submission argues that the reserved seats for minorities and women could be given to a political party which contested the polls and won at least one seat besides providing a list of candidates based on the total number of seats it won as per the law.

Additionally, the PTI has also moved the SC seeking to become a party in the said case contending that the PTI and the SIC were deprived of reserved seats despite being eligible. The SIC was ready to provide a list of candidates for the allocations but was denied permission to submit it.