The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday conducting the hearing of a petition filed by the Sunni Ittehad Council against the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) verdict, denying the party’s reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies. Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, the 13-member bench comprises all judges expect Justice Musarrat Hilali due to her heart ailment. The development comes after a three-member SC bench headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, and comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah, on May 6 suspended the PHC verdict and referred the matter to the judges' committee for the formation of a larger bench since the matter required constitutional interpretation. In its written order, the court stated that the questions of allocation of reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies touch upon the foundational constitutional concept of parliamentary democracy that the voice of the electorate is truly reflected in the composition of the assemblies.

The matter had ended up in the Supreme Court after the PHC had turned down SIC's plea for reserved seats. In April, SIC chief Sahibzada Hamid Raza as well as the speaker of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly had filed appeals in the apex court against the judgment of the PHC, praying to allot the party 67 women and 11 minority seats in the assemblies, besides praying for setting aside the high court’s verdict. Following the February 8 general elections, the Election Commission of Pakistan decided not to allocate reserved seats for women and minorities to the SIC as it had not submitted its list of candidates for those seats. The decision was also upheld by the PHC. However, when the decision was challenged in the Supreme Court, the PHC order was suspended.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan