ISLAMABAD, June 17 (Alliance News): The Supreme Court of Pakistan has dismissed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) plea to enforce its claim for reserved seats in the National Assembly, linked to its 39 supported members.
During the hearing, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar asked whether the Election Commission had officially declared the 39 members as PTI lawmakers. PTI’s lawyer, Faisal Siddiqi, argued that the party was not allotted reserved seats fairly based on its strength.
The Election Commission’s Director General (Law) explained that reserved seats would be distributed based on a set formula. Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi inquired if the seats were already allocated to any party, to which the DG responded, “No, they have not been given to anyone yet.”
Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail pointed out that based on PTI’s 80 general seats, it should get around 22 to 23 reserved seats. Justice Mazhar questioned why reserved seats hadn’t been given if 39 members were accepted as PTI-backed.
The ECP’s lawyer said that a law passed by Parliament states the party affiliation mentioned in nomination papers cannot be changed later. He added that this law was applied retrospectively, and a review petition is still under consideration.
Eventually, the Supreme Court’s constitutional bench dismissed the plea to implement its earlier decision regarding the reserved seats for PTI-backed members.
