SC decision ambiguous: minister

KARACHI:

Sindh Minister for Energy and senior PPP leader Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has described as 'ambiguous' the order of the Supreme Court on Friday, which ruled that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is a parliamentary party and hence eligible for reserved seats in the parliament.

The 13-judge full court, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, ruled 8-5 in favour of awarding to PTI the seats reserved for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies proportionate to its numerical strength there.

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Nasir Shah said that despite having reservations, the PPP respects judicial institutions.

He referred to historical instances where the PPP leadership, including Benazir Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari, and Faryal Talpur, faced legal cases without receiving what they term 'justice'. He added that former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's removal from office by the apex court was also an 'injustice'.

With regard to Friday's judgment, Nasir Shah questioned whether the PTI members who joined the Sunni Ittehad Council for reserved seats would now be subjected to Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution.

However, there are little chances of him walking free as reports swirl that the couple might be implicated in some other case.

Interestingly, legal experts interpret the apex court's ruling as an indictment of the ECP which it states did an 'ultra-constitutional' thing by distributing PTI's reserved seats among its rival parties.

Jamaat-e-Islami

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan Chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has praised the Supreme Court of Pakistan's (SCP) recent decision regarding reserved seats, describing it as a 'fresh breeze of air'. Addressing a press conference at the party's Karachi headquarters, Naeem urged the apex court to establish a judicial commission to investigate the form 45s, emphasising that this document is crucial for forming a democratically elected government.