PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday barred the newly elected members on reserved seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly from oath-taking.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Dr Khurshid Iqbal heard the petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamen-tarians (PTI-P) challenging the allocation of reserved seats.
The petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Sultan Muhammad Khan, argued that the ECP had incorrectly distributed the reserved seats.
He maintained that PTI Parliamentarians were entitled to two seats in the provincial assembly, but the ECP only allotted one seat for women.
He also claimed that the party is entitled to one minority seat. Justice Arshad Ali remarked, “Even though PTI is in power in the province, it is also being denied seats.”
In response, the court issued notices to the Election Commission and directed that no oath be administered to the concerned members until the next hearing.
The hearing was subsequently adjourned. On Friday, the Supreme Court’s constitutional bench ruled that the Pakistan PTI was not entitled to seats reserved for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies.
The court, in a 7-3 majority decision, accepted the review petitions, nullifying the July 12 judgment while upholding the decision of the Peshawar High Court.
“Initially, this Constitutional Bench was constituted for the hearing of the aforesaid review petitions by 13 honourable Judges of this Court, but two of them — Justice Ayesha A Malik and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi — on the first date of hearing dismissed all the review petitions,” the short order read.
“For detailed reasons to be recorded later, by majority of seven, all civil review petitions are allowed and the impugned majority judgment dated July 12, 2024, is set aside,” the order read.
“As a consequence thereof, Civil Appeals number 333 of 2024 and 334 of 2024 filed by the SIC are dismissed and the judgment rendered by the Peshawar High Court is restored.”
The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) petitioned the Supreme Court of Pakistan, requesting that the final decision in the reserved seats review case be reissued as an Order of the Court bearing signatures from all 12 judges of the bench.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday ruled out resigning from the National Assembly, following SC’s verdict on reserved seats.
Senior PTI leader Malik Aamir Dogar, while ruling out quitting the NA, admitted that leaving the legislature in the past was a grave strategic error that the party continues to pay for.
“We are still facing its consequences. Dissolving two provincial assemblies proved to be a major miscalculation.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.