PPP files review on reserved seats ruling

Raises legal points to challenge SC verdict

ISLAMABAD:

Following the footsteps of its coalition ally PML-N, Pakistan People's Party has also filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against its reserved seats ruling.

The petition filed through lawyer Farooq H Naik requested the Supreme Court to withdraw its July 12 verdict, submitting that the court had provided relief to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf that was not even sought in the SIC petition.

The PPP's review petition stated that the case was filed by the SIC but the court ruled in favour of the PTI in terms of reserved seats.

Neither did the PTI file the reserved seats petition nor did it become a party in the case, maintained the PPP petition, adding the reserved seats cannot be given to the political party, which was not one of the parties in the case.

The petition submitted that the verdict declaring 39 parliamentarians as PTI MNAs is worth reviewing. SIC and PTI are two different political parties, and none of the 80 members of SIC appeared before the court.

The PPP raised a number of legal questions in the review petition, asking if the party should get reserved seats which did not submit the list of its candidates, whose candidates did not even file nomination papers.

The petition stated SIC chairman Hamid Raza contested the election as an independent candidate, adding none contested from the platform of SIC hence, the SIC cannot get reserved seats.

The petition stated the short SC verdict is silent on the real dispute. The July 12 order is contradictory to the very principle of interpretation of the Constitution. The outcomes of the order are in contrast to the requests made by the SIC and other parties in the case.

The review petition said the Supreme Court cannot re-write the Constitution. As per the Constitution, the independent MNAs can join any parliamentary political party within three days of the issuance of the notification. The court order gave 41 MNAs 15 days' time to join any political party, which is in sviolation of the Constitution.