Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail on Thursday observed that former Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and CJP Yahya Afridi in their separate judgements last year had acknowledged the PTI’s right to reserved seats as a parliamentary party.
The remarks came as the Supreme Court’s constitutional bench (CB) heard review pleas against a ruling that had declared the PTI eligible for reserved seats.
In its July 12, 2024 short order, eight out of 13 judges ruled that 39 out of a list of 80 MNAs were and are the returned candidates of the PTI, setting it to emerge as the single largest party in the National Assembly.
However, the ruling had not been implemented by the National Assembly, while the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had raised some objections. The review petitions against the SC order had been filed by the PML-N, the PPP and the ECP.
An 11-member CB led by Justice Aminuddin Khan resumed the hearing today after Justices Ayesha A. Malik and Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi had dismissed the review petitions on the first day of hearings.
The other 10 members of the bench were Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Musarrat Hilali, Naeem Akhter Afghan, Shahid Bilal Hassan, Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, Salahuddin Panhwar, Aamer Farooq and Ali Baqar Najafi.
The CB live-streamed its proceedings on the SC’s YouTube channel, after accepting the SIC’s application for it last week.
Advocate Faisal Siddiqui appeared before the court today on behalf of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), which the PTI-backed independent candidates had joined during the 2024 elections after the PTI’s election symbol was revoked.
Sikandar Bashir Mohmand was present as the ECP counsel while Barrister Haris Azmat appeared as the PML-N lawyer.
During the hearing, Justice Mandokhail noted that he and ex-CJP Isa, in their minority judgement, had agreed with the eight-judge majority verdict to the extent of 39 candidates. He further said that CJP Yahya Afridi had also acknowledged the PTI’s right to reserved seats.
Despite the 8-5 split, 11 out of the 13 judges had declared the PTI a parliamentary party. In his standalone order, Justice Afridi had ordered the ECP to provide an opportunity to the parties concerned about the reserved seats and, if required, to revisit its earlier decision within seven days.
Justice Mazhar, a part of the original majority verdict, also noted: “The minority judges acknowledged the PTI on the same grounds as the majority judges.”
The proceedings were then adjourned till 11:30am on June 16, with Siddiqi set to continue his arguments.
During the previous hearings, the CB had questioned the SIC’s standing in the case, noting that the original order had allocated seats to the PTI and not the SIC. Senior lawyer Makhdoom Ali Khan, counsel for women lawmakers affected by the SC ruling, has also contested the legality of that verdict.
Initially, a full-strength 13-member CB led by Justice Aminuddin took up the review pleas on May 6. However, Justices Ayesha and Abbasi declared the applications as inadmissible and were not part of the subsequent proceedings, with the CB head judge noting they had stepped back voluntarily.
