ISLAMABAD: While Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led opposition alliance on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court order that suspended the allocation of reserved seats to other parties by the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the federal government expressed concerns, arguing that a larger bench should have been formed to take up the crucial matter.
A three-judge bench, led by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, granted leave to appeal and adjourned the matter till June 3. The bench unanimously suspended the ECP’s decision for the re-allocation of reserved seats to other political parties.
The PHC through its earlier verdict dashed the PTI’s hopes of getting reserved seats as it dismissed the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) petition challenging the ECP’s ruling that denied reserved seats to the party.
PTI-backed independent candidates had found a new home in the SIC after the party lost its election symbol as a result of the ruling in the intra-party election case.
This is the first time the PTI has managed to secure relief from the apex court during the tenure of CJP Qazi Faez Isa.
“This is a matter of constitutional interpretation; it would have been appropriate if larger bench issued directives,” Tarar said in a statement.
He said that the top court should have exercised caution in its interim order, saying that the final decision of the PHC will stand.
The federal minister remarked that under the Practice and Procedure Act of the Supreme Court, it was appropriate and preferable for a five-member larger bench to hear such matters.
“According to Article 67, the eligibility of a member’s legislation is not questioned; it is hoped that the final decision of the Peshawar High Court will prevail,” he concluded.
Opposition alliance welcomes SC verdict
The Supreme Court’s decision to suspend the Peshawar High Court (PHC) verdict on the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) reserved seats has been welcomed by the opposition five-part alliance.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Monday along with Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai, PTI leader Asad Qaiser welcomed the apex court’s verdict.
“The PTI will soon come into power if the courts continue to deliver such verdicts,” he remarked.
The PTI-led government was toppled in April 2022 via an opposition’s no-confidence motion. However, the Imran Khan-founded party alleged that its ouster was the result of a US conspiracy hatched by colluding with the then-opposition parties.
Earlier today, the Supreme Court three-member bench headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah accepted the PTI-backed SIC plea against the high court’s ruling that deprived the party of its reserved seat quota allocated on the basis of the party’s strength in the assembly.
“[We are accepting the [SIC’s] pleas [against the PHC verdict], Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said and asked under what law [reserved] seats were allocated to other parties.
Barring the members, who have taken oath on the reserved seats, from casting their votes in legislation, the SC said that it will hear the case on a daily basis from June 3.
Furthermore, the court noted that the said issue only concerns the additional reserved seats allotted to the political parties later on.
Speaking about the wheat import scandal, the PTI leader alleged that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was involved in the scam that reportedly caused billions of rupees loss to the national exchequer.
“We are standing by farmers and the government is playing drama on the [wheat] scandal,” he said as the farmers have announced staging countrywide protests from May 10 against the government’s inability to procure wheat from them at the fixed price.
Due to the non-purchase of wheat by the provincial governments, wheat is being sold at a lower price than the official rate — a matter of grave concern for the farmers.
Speaking about other matters, Qaiser said the PTI was standing with every party which considered the incumbent coalition government “illegal”.
Referring to the ruling alliance lawmakers, Qaiser said even their children knew that “they are sitting in parliament illegally”.
The PTI leader also complained that the opposition party was not being allowed to hold political rallies in the country.
