Justice Minallah criticises ECP's verdict in SIC reserved seats case

Says decision deprived voters of their fundamental rights and misinterpreted Supreme Court's ruling

ISLAMABAD:

Supreme Court Justice Athar Minallah has issued a four-page additional note criticising the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) verdict regarding the Sunni Ittehad Council's reserved seats case.

In the note issued on Saturday, he stated that the decision deprived voters of their fundamental rights and misinterpreted the Supreme Court's ruling.

Justice Minallah asserted that the Supreme Court's decision was not intended to disqualify any political party. He argued that the misinterpretation of the judicial decision has unfairly excluded a major political party from the electoral process.

He further remarked that the Election Commission's decision has raised numerous questions of public importance, highlighted by the arguments presented by the Commission's counsel.

Justice Minallah called for a detailed report of complaints before and after the general elections.

The four-page note by Justice Minallah has been published on the Supreme Court's official website.

Also read: SIC not entitled to reserved seats: ECP

The ECP had told the Supreme Court last week that the SIC’s constitution is violative of articles 17, 20 & 25 of the Constitution and the party is not entitled to any reserved seats for women and in particular for non-Muslims.

“Article 3, Chapter 1, of the Constitution of the SIC restricts membership of the SIC to only adult Muslims, and places further three other conditions of a like nature to membership.

“The conditions in said Article 3 of SIC’s Constitution are violative of Articles 17, 20 and 25 of the Constitution, in view thereof, SIC clearly is not entitled to any reserved seats for women and in particular for non-Muslims,” the ECP said in, a concise statement submitted to the to court.

A full-bench of the Supreme Court is hearing a petition filed by the SIC—which primarily comprises PTI-backed independent lawmakers—regarding allocation of reserved seats in the parliament and provincial legislatures.

The ECP on December 22, 2023 stripped the PTI of its election symbol in view of irregularities in its intra-party polls. The Supreme Court on January 13 upheld the ECP order, forcing the PTI candidates to contest the February 8 general elections as independents.

The independent candidates joined the SIC after the announcement of official election results. The SIC later sought reserved seats in the parliament and provincial assemblies in proportion to its general seats.

However, the ECP on March 1 refused to allot these reserved seats to the SIC. The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on March 25 also upheld the ECP order, prompting the SIC to approach the apex court.