By W. Ali Khan
TWA
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ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — The Supreme Court of Pakistan overturned the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision to deny reserved seats to the PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) on Friday, marking a significant legal victory for Imran Khan’s party.
The 13-member bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, delivered the verdict. They declared that withdrawing an election symbol cannot disqualify a political party from elections, reaffirming PTI’s status as a political entity.
In March, the Election Commission had ruled 4-1 against the SIC, citing legal defects and violations in party list submissions for reserved seats. This decision redistributed seats among other parties, notably benefiting PML-N and PPP.
The PTI challenged this decision as unconstitutional. In response to an SIC plea, the Peshawar High Court upheld the ECP’s decision in March, denying SIC reserved seats.
In April, SIC petitioned the Supreme Court, which suspended both the PHC and ECP judgments on May 6. The SC emphasized the need for a larger bench due to constitutional interpretation issues raised by Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan under Section 4 of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023.
Consequently, the ECP suspended victory notifications for 77 members of national and provincial assemblies elected on those seats.
