The Supreme Court of Pakistan will today commence the hearing on the petition concerning the allocation of reserved seats filed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
The 13-member full court presided over by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, will deliberate on the petition regarding the reserved seats of the Sunni Unity Council. Justice Musarat Hilali will be absent from the bench due to illness.
In a previous session in May, the Supreme Court had halted the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to redistribute the reserved seats of the Sunni Ittehad Council to other parties. During the hearing, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah emphasized the importance of ensuring that the people’s mandate is faithfully represented in Parliament.
The court had then referred the issue of reserved seats to the Judges Committee to determine whether the current bench or a larger bench should handle the case.
On March 4, the ECP, responding to opposition parties’ requests, allocated seats in the National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies based on proportional representation, considering the seats won by political parties. Consequently, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council lost a total of 77 reserved seats across various assemblies.
Additionally, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) dismissed the petitions filed by the SIC regarding reserved seats for women and minorities. The SIC has challenged the ECP’s decision not to allocate reserved seats for women and minorities.
