PTI files contempt of court petition against ECP over reserved seats decision

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has lodged a contempt of court petition against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) due to its failure to implement a decision regarding reserved seats, Express News reported on Monday.

The petition was filed by PTI’s legal representative, Salman Akram Raja, naming the members of the Election Commission as respondents. It asserts that the ECP should be ordered to immediately enforce the decision regarding reserved seats.

It also calls for contempt of court proceedings against the commission members for their inaction. Additionally, the petition requests that the court instruct all parties to comply with the judicial ruling.

This legal move highlights ongoing tensions between PTI and the ECP as the party seeks to ensure adherence to electoral regulations and decisions.

On July 12, the Supreme Court declared PTI a parliamentary party and held that PTI was eligible to get reserved seats that were earlier distributed among other parties in the national and provincial assemblies.

Supreme Court judgment that had ruled that independent candidates, after winning elections, could join political parties and alter their political allegiance followed up by a note released by eight SC judges directing ECP to implement the judgment at the earliest.

However, in response, parliament passed the Elections (Second Amendment) Act, 2024, which imposes new restrictions on party-switching by independent candidates and overrides the Supreme Court’s ruling.

What is SIC reserved seats case?

The case pertains to the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) plea challenging the Peshawar High Court's (PHC) decision, which upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) move to deny reserved seats in the assemblies to PTI-backed lawmakers.

The issue of reserved seats arose following the February 8 elections, where over 80 independent candidates, backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), emerged victorious and later joined the SIC.

These candidates sought to claim seats reserved for minorities and women. However, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected this allocation, citing the SIC's failure to submit its list of candidates.

In response, the SIC approached the Peshawar High Court (PHC), which upheld the ECP's decision. Dissatisfied with this outcome, the SIC escalated the matter to the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the PHC ruling and secure 67 reserved seats for women and 11 for minorities.