SC to finalise seats order

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court detailed majority order in the reserved seats case is currently being authored and is likely to be unveiled after the court vacations.

According to sources, once the verdict is written it will be sent to the judges who endorsed the brief majority order of July 12 for their signatures. However, as some of the judges are currently on leave the detailed majority verdict is likely to be released after the vacations.

Supreme Court's senior puisne judge Syed Mansoor Ali Shah on July 12 read the brief verdict of a SC full-bench which with a majority of 8 votes to 5 votes had allowed the Sunni Ittehad Council's (SIC) appeal against a Peshawar High Court (PHC) order.

The PHC on March 25 upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) decision not to allocate reserved seats for women and minorities to the SIC, which comprised the PTI backed independents.

The majority order had resurrected the PTI and allowed the SIC lawmakers to join the former ruling party by submitting their party affiliation certificates.

Interestingly, two of the judges issued their detailed dissenting note to the majority order without waiting for the unveiling of the detailed order. The government, some political parties and the ECP have filed review petitions against the SC's July 12 order.

Sources indicate that Justice Shah will be engaged in chamber work until August 23. Following this period, there is a possibility that he might take a leave.

During the judicial week commencing on August 12, two benches of the Supreme Court Registry in Islamabad will hear cases. A three-member bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, will preside over various cases.

Meanwhile, a two-member bench consisting of Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel will handle criminal cases.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail will hear cases at the Supreme Court Registry in Quetta.