ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench (CB) on Monday heard a petition filed by the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, seeking to become a party in a case concerning the allocation of reserved seats to the PTI. During the hearing, the counsel for the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), a coalition of PTI-backed independent parliamentarians, announced plans to file a review petition against the dismissal of its objections by the CB.
Justice Aminuddin Khan led the eleven-member bench hearing the appeals against the Supreme Court’s July 2024 majority order, which had addressed the allocation of reserved seats to the PTI. At the outset of the hearing, Justice Khan remarked that the PTI had initially received relief meant for the SIC.
On January 13, 2024, the Supreme Court upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) order declaring PTI’s intra-party elections null and void. As a result, PTI candidates had to contest the February 2024 elections as independents, with 80 such independent candidates later joining the SIC to claim reserved seats. However, the ECP refused to allocate the reserved seats, prompting the SIC to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court.
In July 2024, the apex court’s bench, by a majority of 8-5, revived the PTI as a parliamentary party, recognizing 39 lawmakers who had submitted affiliation certificates with the PTI. The ruling allowed 41 other lawmakers to submit these certificates within 15 days, which was a point of contention.
During the hearing, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail pointed out the discrepancy, highlighting that the election nominations were submitted in December 2023 before the January ruling. Advocate Siddiqi, representing the SIC, contended that the ECP’s withdrawal of PTI’s symbol in December 2023 had rendered the candidates as independents, thus invalidating their PTI affiliation. The court adjourned the hearing until the following day, with Siddiqi expected to resume his arguments.
