ECP controls the reserved seats formula and can declare any candidate as an independent: Supreme Court judge

• Admitted fact: PTI has not held intra-party elections during the year: CJP.
• Justice Mansoor says the court wants each party to get their due.
• SC instructs ECP to submit documents regarding seat reservation form.

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ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Justice Ayesha Malik on Monday said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) controls the formula for allocating reserved seats, which gives it the right to declare any candidate as independent.

“ECP can declare any person independent according to his will,” Justice Malik said as a 13-judge bench heard an appeal by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) against the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) judgment upholding the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) denying them reserved seats.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, comprises Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan.

During today’s hearing, ECP lawyer Sikander Bashir informed the court that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Inaf (PTI) had issued party affiliation certificates along with Form 66, which were signed by lawyer Gohar Khan.

However, the defense attorney argued that the nomination papers submitted by the party’s candidates were not valid because no intra-party elections were held at that time and no party chairman was elected.

Commenting on the issue of intra-party polls, CJP Isa noted that it was an accepted fact that the PTI, despite being given one year’s time, had failed to conduct party elections.

Justice Ayesha further sought the opinion of the electoral authority on the argument of the KP Advocate General in which he maintained that the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) was allotted reserved seats despite not submitting a list of candidates.

“You (ECP) have not taken any action against BAP,” the judge noted, further asking the electoral body whether it had held any meeting regarding the aforementioned party on the matter.

Meanwhile, Judge Mansoor stressed that the court wants every political party to be entitled to its rights.

“The court wants to make sure that no party receives more or fewer seats than it deserves,” he said.

The court then directed the ECP to submit details of the reserved seats allotted for the year 2024 along with documents pertaining to the relevant formula and adjourned the hearing till 11.30 am on Tuesday (tomorrow).

The entire issue of reserved seats holds significance as PTI-backed independent candidates, who constitute a majority in the opposition benches, lost as many as 77 reserved seats in the NA and provincial assemblies following the PHC verdict.

The issue first emerged after the victory in the February 8 elections of PTI-backed independent candidates, who then joined the SIC to contest seats reserved for minorities and women.

However, the PTI suffered a setback when the ECP, citing the fact that the party had not submitted its list of candidates, refused to allot reserved seats to the SIC.

The party then approached the PHC, which upheld the election body’s decision in the matter.

The SIC then filed an application to the Supreme Court to overturn the PHC judgment and award 67 women and 11 seats to minorities in assemblies.

They eventually went to the high court, where the ECP argued that the reserved seats could not be allotted to the SIC as the party had not submitted its list of candidates before the January 24 deadline.

Meanwhile, the federal government, through Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan, has filed a written reply to the Supreme Court, urging it to dismiss the SIC’s appeal regarding the allotment of reserved seats for women and minorities in the National Assembly and provincial Assemblies.

In the 30-page letter, the authors argue that seats reserved for minorities and women could be awarded to a political party that participated in the elections and won at least one seat, and would also present a list of candidates based on the total number of seats won in accordance with the law.

Further, PTI also approached the SC seeking to become a party in the said case, maintaining that PTI and SIC were deprived of their reserved seats despite their eligibility. SIC was ready to submit the list of candidates for allotment but was denied permission to submit it.