Supreme Court Declares Specific Seats for PTI Invalid, Peshawar High Court Upholds Decision

Islamabad: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has declared the Sunni Ittehad Council’s specific seats decision as null and void concerning the Peshawar High Court and the Election Commission. Chief Justice Justice Qazi Faez Isa led a 13-member larger bench of the apex court, which had reserved judgment on the Sunni Ittehad Council’s specific seats issue, pronounced by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah.
Attorney General Mansoor Awan, Election Commission lawyer Sikander Bashir, and PTI leaders were present in Supreme Court chamber number one, where the decision was announced, invalidating the Election Commission’s May 13 notification as unconstitutional. The majority decision stated that depriving a party of electoral symbols does not disenfranchise it from electoral participation.
The Supreme Court ruled in its majority decision that PTI is a political party entitled to reserved seats, including those for women and minorities. On June 27, the Election Commission issued an order stating that certain nomination papers were party-affiliated. Forty out of eighty individuals must decide within fifteen days to which party they are affiliated.