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The Peshawar High Court on Thursday rejected the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) plea for reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies.
In a 4-1 majority ruling on March 4, the ECP dashed the hopes of the PTI-backed SIC for a seat quota, citing “non-curable legal defects” and a breach of mandatory provisions in submitting party lists for reserved seats.
The decision was made by a five-member bench comprising Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, Justice Ijaz Anwar, Justice SM Atiq Shah, Justice Shakeel Ahmed, and Justice Syed Arshad Ali.
On January 13, the Supreme Court issued an order with significant ramifications, declaring PTI’s intra-party elections illegal and stripping the party of its election symbol. Consequently, PTI candidates had to run as independents in the February 8 general elections, forfeiting the chance to claim reserved seats.
The day before, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan informed the PHC bench that the SIC did not participate in the February 8 general elections, thus rendering it ineligible for reserved seats as per the law.
Qazi Mohammad Anwar Advocate, representing the petitioner, informed the court that senior lawyers Barrister Ali Zafar and Babar Awan would present arguments. Anwar provided background information on the case.
Justice Ibrahim asked if any SIC candidate had succeeded in the February 8 election, to which Anwar replied in the negative. Justice Arshad noted that even the SIC chairman had contested the election as an independent candidate.
Subsequently, the court instructed AGP Awan to present his arguments. The AGP defended the ECP’s decision, stating that the SIC had failed to submit any list for the allocation of reserved seats before the election, which was a legal prerequisite.
In response to a query about reallocating the seats to other parties if not allotted to the SIC, the AGP emphasized the necessity of representation for women and minorities, asserting that parliament would be incomplete without the allocation of those seats.
