IHC issues notices on PTI's seats request

Justice Inaam Ameen Minhas of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued a notice to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and sought a response on a miscellaneous petition filed by the PTI-Parliamentarians regarding the allocation of reserved seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly.

During the hearing, petitioner's lawyer Sultan Muhammad Khan argued that on July 2, the ECP issued a notification which miscalculated the reserved seats for women. He requested the court to grant the PTI Parliamentarians their rightful share of reserved seats in the K-P.

Justice Minhas inquired whether the 2024 notification had been suspended by the court. Advocate Sultan Muhammad Khan replied that it had not been suspended but the case is pending.

He requested the court to suspend the notification. Justice Minhas, however, remarked that the 2024 notification could not be suspended immediately.

"I will issue a notice and let them come and explain; we will review it then," he said. The court later adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period. PTI Parliamentarians' Central Secretary General, Malik Habib Noor was also present in the courtroom.

The ruling parties got another victory on the legal front on June 28 as a constitutional bench (CB) of the Supreme Court set aside the SC's July 12, 2024 judgment, which had resurrected the PTI as a parliamentary party and allowed it to get reserved seats in legislatures.