Supreme Court Issues Important Judgment on Review Petitions in Reserved Seats Case

Islamabad:The **Supreme Court of Pakistan** has issued a significant ruling on the scope of **review petitions**, just ahead of the hearing in the **reserved seats case**. This decision, authored by **Justice Mansoor Ali Shah**, clarifies that review petitions can only be filed under **Article 188 of the Constitution** and **Supreme Court Rules and Regulations**.

The ruling emphasizes that mere dissatisfaction by one party with a judgment does not form a valid ground for filing a review petition. **Review petitions must identify clear legal or technical errors** in the original judgment. Furthermore, the Court has ruled that points already rejected in earlier hearings cannot be raised again in review petitions, and the argument that a different perspective could have been included in the judgment is also not acceptable.

In the judgment, there was also a note of concern about the **22 lakh pending cases** in Pakistan, with over **56,000 cases currently pending in the Supreme Court**. A significant portion of these are considered **frivolous and fabricated review petitions**, which the Court has urged to discourage.

This decision was delivered by a bench consisting of **Justice Mansoor Ali Shah**, **Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar**, and **Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan**.

In the meantime, today, the **Supreme Court** will hear **review petitions** related to the **reserved seats case**. The **13-member Full Court Bench**, headed by **Justice Syed Ameen-ud-Din Khan**, will hear the case. Other members of the bench include **Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel**, **Justice Ayesha Malik**, **Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi**, **Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan**, **Justice Musarat Hilali**, **Justice Hashim Kakar**, **Justice Shahid Bilal**, **Justice Salahuddin Panhwar**, **Justice Amir Farooq**, **Justice Baqar Najfi**, and others.

It is noteworthy that on **July 12, 2023**, the **Supreme Court** had delivered a verdict in the **reserved seats** case, directing the **Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)** party to be given representation on these seats. This judgment was also written by **Justice Mansoor Ali Shah**, although he is not part of the current bench hearing the review petitions.

This decision serves as a reminder of the Court’s commitment to maintaining the integrity of the legal process, ensuring that the use of review petitions is not abused and that the focus remains on substantive legal errors rather than procedural disagreements.