PTI faces major setback as SC rules against reserved seats case

ISLAMABAD: In a significant setback for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench has ruled that the party is not entitled to seats reserved for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies.

The verdict was announced by a 10-member bench headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan on Friday. After a brief ruling, Justice Aminuddin Khan stated, “the undersigned justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Mussarat Hilali, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan, Justice Hashim Khan Kakar, Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Ali Baqar Najafi all review petitions are allowed and impugned majority judgement dated July 12, 2024 is set aside as a consequence thereof civil appeals filed by SIC are dismissed and judgement of the Peshawar High Court PHC is restored.”

Review petitions against the Supreme Court‘s ruling dated July 12, 2024 that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was entitled to the reserved seats for women and minority in the national assembly and the provincial assembly were filed by Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PML–N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah announced the verdict on behalf of the 8-5 majority of the full bench of the SC, set aside the order of the Peshawar High Court, which, upheld the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to deny the reserved seats to Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

In the July 12 verdict, eight of the thirteen judges held that 39 out of a list of 80 were and are the returned candidates of the PTI.

Recent development, More to follow…