ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Justice Yahya Afridi of Supreme Court has observed that the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) does not meet the constitutional requirements for reserved seats whereas the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is a political party and eligible for it but the party has not sought a declaration in its favour.
Justice Afridi gave this observation in his 26-page dissenting note issued on Monday as part of the Supreme Court’s detailed judgement on the Election Commission’s (ECP) “request for clarification” of its July 12 judgement on reserved seats.
Justice Afridi rejected the SIC’s claim and wrote that the PTI was eligible for reserved seats, but it did not become a party before this court.
According to the note, the proceedings had been going on since June 3, but the PTI did not file any application to become a party till June 26. Barrister Gohar filed application on June 26 to become a party with a request to assist the court in the ongoing case. But, he did not seek any declaration in favour of the PTI.
In the judgement issued on Monday, Justice Afridi ordered the ECP to hear the parties and resolve the issue within seven days.
It may be recalled that On Sept 14, an eight-member bench of the apex court disposed of the ECP's petition seeking “certain clarifications” on its July 12 verdict on reserved seats. The Supreme Court issued a detailed judgement on Monday ordering the ECP to notify the members in the National Assembly as PTI’s parliamentarians.
Also read: Supreme Court detailed verdict categorically declares PTI eligible for reserved seats
The Supreme Court on Monday declared that the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision of March 1 was contrary to the constitution and the reserved seats should be given to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).