ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) suspended the Peshawar High Court judgment on reserved seats on the petition of the Sunni Ittehad Council(SIC).
A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah heard the petition related to the reserved seats of the Sunni Ittehad Council.
Lawyer Faisal Siddiqui told the court that PTI’s independent winning MNAs joined the Sunni Ittehad Council, upon which Justice Mansoor Ali Shah inquired whether the 7 candidates are still part of the National Assembly in independent status.
Justice Athar Minallah asked whether PTI is a registered political party. On which Faisal Siddiqui said that PTI is a registered political party.
Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar asked how many days independent members have to join a party. On which lawyer Faisal Siddiqui said that independent members of the National Assembly have to join a political party within 3 days.
The Supreme Court issued a notice to the Federal Government and the Attorney General and immediately sought the records of the case from the Election Commission of Pakistan. While Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said that they want to hear and decide the case on a daily basis. The scheme of the Constitution is that that mandate should be respected.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said that no political party is relevant for us and added that it is to be seen whether the mandate of the people is reflected in it or not.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said that one question is whether the allocated seats can be re-allocated. The ther is that reserved seats were allocated so that the house is full, where is the mistake in this.
Justice Athar Minallah remarked that how they were deprived of reserved seats by recognizing the parliamentary party, the constitution of Pakistan also begins with the idea that things will be done according to the aspirations of the people.
The court suspended the decision of the Peshawar High Court regarding the reserved seats and said that the appeals are being accepted for hearing.
The suspension of the decision will be only to the extent of additional seats.
