The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), an ally of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has called on the Supreme Court to issue a written order in the reserved seats case, including the signatures of all 12 judges of the bench. This request follows the Supreme Court’s ruling on June 27, which accepted review petitions from a majority of the bench, deciding that PTI was not entitled to seats reserved for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies.
The ruling, delivered by a 10-member bench headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, was initially set to be issued by a 13-member bench, but two judges, Justice Ayesha A Malik and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, dismissed all review petitions at the start of the hearing. Justice Salahuddin Panhwar also recused himself from the bench, and the decision was made with only 10 judges’ signatures. SIC contends that the absence of signatures from the two dissenting judges and the recused judge undermines the order’s validity.
In its petition, SIC argued that including the signatures of all 12 judges, as initially promised in the May 6 order, would lend the judgment more authority and credibility. Barrister Hamid Khan, who filed the petition on behalf of SIC, stated that the matter was of public interest and concerned fundamental rights.
Additionally, PTI leader Salman Akram Raja, in a letter to the SC registrar, emphasized that the absence of the dissenting opinions and the recused judge’s signature compromised the completeness of the judgment. Raja also requested certified copies of the individual decisions from all judges involved in the case.
The SIC and PTI continue to push for clarity and full transparency regarding the court’s ruling on the reserved seats case.
