SC Declares PTI Eligible For Reserved Seats

A 13-member bench of Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday declared Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as eligible for the reserved seats for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Jul, 2024) A 13-member bench of Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday declared Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as eligible for the reserved seats for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies.

The court nullified the decision of Peshawar High Court (PHC) and notifications of the ECP regarding the reserved seats, and also declared PTI as a political party.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah announced the 8-5 majority verdict of the bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa. Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Syed Hassan Rizvi, and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan favored the judgment.

A nine-page written order of the top court said: “The impugned judgment dated 25.03.2024 of the high court is set aside. The order of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) dated 01.03.2024 is declared to be ultra vires the Constitution."

It further said: “The notifications of various dates, whereby the persons respectively mentioned therein, being the persons identified in the Commission’s notification, dated 13th of May, 2024, have been declared to be returned candidates for reserved seats for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies, are declared to be ultra vires to the Constitution, without lawful authority and of no legal effect, and are quashed from 6th of May 2024 onwards, being the date an interim order was made by the court in CPLA no. 13289 of 24, the leave petitions out of which the instant appeals arise.”

“It is declared that the lack or denial of an election symbol does not in any manner affect the constitutional and legal rights of a political party to participate in an election (whether general or bye) and to field candidates and the Commission is under a constitutional duty to act, and construe and apply all statutory provisions, accordingly.”

The order said, “It is declared that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was and is a political party, which secured or won (the two terms being interchangeable) general seats in the National and Provincial Assemblies in the General Elections of 2024 as herein after provided.”

It said: it is declared that out of the 80 returned candidates (now MNAs) those (being 39 in all and whose particulars are set out in Annex A to this Order) in respect of whom the Commission has shown “PTI” in any one of the aforesaid columns in the list, were and are the returned candidates whose seats were and have been secured by the PTI.

It is further ordered that any of the remaining 41 returned candidates out of the aforesaid 80 may, within 15 working days of this Order file a statement duly signed and notarized stating that he or she contested the General Election as a candidate of the political party specified therein. If any such statement(s) is/are filed, the Commission shall forthwith but in any case within 7 days thereafter give notice to the political party concerned to file, within 15 working days, a confirmation that the candidate contested the General Election as its candidate.

A political party may in any case, at any time after the filing of a statement as aforesaid, of its own motion file its confirmation. If such a statement is filed, and is confirmed by the political party concerned, then the seat secured by such candidate shall be forthwith deemed to be a seat secured by that political party for the purposes of para 5 above in relation to the Article 51 Provisions.

It said: “The Commission shall also forthwith issue, and post on its website, a list of the returned candidates (now MNAs) and seats to which this para applies within 7 days after the last date on which a political party may file its confirmation and shall simultaneously file a compliance report in the Court.”

The decision said: “The number of general seats secured by PTI shall be the total of the seats declared in terms of para 7 and those, if any, to which para 8 applies. The PTI shall be entitled to reserved seats for women and minorities in the National Assembly accordingly. PTI shall, within 15 working days of this Order, file its lists of candidates for the said reserved seats and the provisions of the Elections Act, 2017.

The court said: “The foregoing paras shall apply mutatis mutandis for purposes of the Article 106 Provisions in relation to PTI (as set out in para 5 herein above) for the reserved seats for women and minorities in the Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab and Sindh Provincial Assemblies.”

“In case the Commission or PTI need any clarification or order so as to give effect to this para in full measure, it shall forthwith apply to the Court by making an appropriate application”, it said.