PTI-SIC reserved seats: Supreme Court to announce much-anticipated verdict soon

• Full bench held consultation on reserved verdict: sources.
• Supreme Court reserved verdict on SIC peal on Tuesday.
• CJP-led bench to announce short ruling at 12pm on Friday.
  

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court will announce its much-awaited verdict today (Friday) on a case related to the denial of reserved seats to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), according to a cause list issued on Thursday.  

The development came after the apex court's full bench held its second round of consultation on the reserved seats case verdict for the second consecutive day on Thursday. 

A special session of the country's top court's 13-member full bench was held under the chair of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, the sources said, adding all the judges of the bench attended the session.

The cause list issued on the SC website following the meeting said a full bench led by CJP Isa will announce the short ruling at 12pm on Friday (July 12) on the SIC plea challenging the Peshawar High Court (PHC) decision upholding the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) move to deny the PTI-backed lawmakers reserved seats in the assemblies. 

The apex court reserved the verdict on the SIC’s appeals on Tuesday after conducting nine hearings on the SIC's appeals with all parties including the federal government and the ECP presented their arguments against the SIC's plea. 

The full bench also 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 Ayesha Malik, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan.

What is reserved seats case?

The reserved seats' issue first arose after over 80 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 Imran Khan-founded party 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 apex court seeking to set aside the PHC verdict and the allocation of 67 women and 11 minority seats in the assemblies.

It is also to be noted that the PHC verdict allowing the allocation of reserved seats to the ruling coalition comprising the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and others, allowed them securing a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly.

The move propelled the PML-N's number in the lower house of parliament to 123, the PPP to 73, whereas the PTI-backed SIC number stood at 82.

A three-member SC bench comprising Justice Mansoor, Justice Minallah and Justice Mazhar, took up the SIC's plea on June 6 and suspended PHC's verdict as well as the ECP's decision on the said issue.

Following the SC's decision to suspend the ECP order, the coalition lost its two-thirds majority in the lower house.

The SIC's plea, however, was opposed by the federal government, the electoral body and other political parties including PML-N, PPP and Jamiat Ulam-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).

In its submission to the court via Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan, the government has urged the apex court to reject the SIC's plea stressing 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.

The ECP and other political parties adopted a somewhat similar argument contending that the party is not eligible to get reserved seats as it did not submit the list of candidates before the January 24 deadline.

'Bat symbol'

The reserved seats case emanated from the ECP's December 22, 2023, decision declaring PTI's intra-party elections unlawful, which stripped the Imran Khan-founded party of its iconic 'bat' symbol — a sign that depicted the cricketer-turned-politician's life as a sportsman.

The 11-page order was passed on a disgruntled PTI member, Akbar S Babar's petition, claiming that the former ruling party did not stage its internal elections in line with the laws.

The revocation of their symbol served as a major blow to Khan's party ahead of the February 8 elections.

In response, the PTI announced knocking at the door of Peshawar High Court (PHC) to seek relief, which they got as the court on January 10 restored the "bat" symbol for them.

However, the party's relief was shortlived as the Supreme Court just after three days annulled the PHC's order while upholding the electoral watchdog’s decision depriving the former ruling party of its 'iconic' symbol.

This led the PTI candidates to contest the February 8 polls as independents and later the party’s victorious candidates join the SIC in a bid to claim the reserved seats for women and minorities.

However, the Imran Khan-founded party 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 as it as a party did not contest elections.

Instead, the reserved seats were distributed among other political parties including the PML-N, PPP, and MQM.

This prompted PTI to approach the PHC which upheld the electoral body's decision to distribute the seats among other parliamentary parties.

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

The allocation of reserved seats 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.

Now, the SC is set to announce the landmark verdict to decide whether the PTI-backed SIC is entitled to reserved seats or not.