ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench (CB) on Friday allowed the review petitions and set aside the July 12 judgment in the reserved seats case. As a result, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is no longer eligible for reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies.
The top court’s CB, by a majority of 7 to 5, restored the Peshawar High Court (PHC) verdict. The seven majority judges include the Head of the CB, Justice Aminuddin Khan, along with Justices Mussarat Hilali, Naeem Akhtar Afghan, Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, Amir Farooq, and Ali Baqar Najafi.
“All review petitions are allowed. The impugned majority judgment dated July 12, 2024, is set aside. Petitions filed by the SIC are dismissed, and the judgment rendered by the Peshawar High Court is reinstated,” the court ruled.
The short order further stated: “Today, nearing the conclusion of proceedings, one of the Hon’ble members of the larger Bench, Mr. Justice Salahuddin Panhwar, recused himself from continuing on this Bench due to certain reasons. He contributed a separate note, and the Bench was reconstituted with all the remaining available members.”
“Initially, this Constitutional Bench was constituted to hear the review petitions with 13 Hon’ble Judges of this Court. However, on the first day of the hearing, two of them—Justice Ayesha A. Malik and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi—dismissed all the review petitions,” the order noted.
“Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, for reasons to be recorded later, partly allowed the review petitions. He upheld his original position on 39 seats but reviewed the majority judgment concerning the remaining 41 seats.”
“Justices Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, for reasons to be recorded later, also reviewed the judgment and allowed the review petitions. However, they noted that the factual controversy and disputed questions of fact could not be resolved by either the Peshawar High Court or this Court in its original or review jurisdiction. Therefore, directions are issued to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to examine and consider the nomination papers, declarations, and other relevant documents of all 80 returned candidates through a de novo review of their political affiliation. The ECP must take an appropriate decision in accordance with the law and applicable rules within 15 days of receiving a copy of this short order.”
Following the top court’s ruling, the reserved seats will now be allocated to other political parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan (JUI-F), and others.
It is pertinent to mention that the PML-N, PPP, and the Election Commission of Pakistan had filed review petitions against the Supreme Court’s July 12, 2024, ruling which had held that PTI was entitled to reserved seats for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies.
