Peshawar (Web Desk): The Peshawar High Court on Thursday rejected the Sunni Ittehad Council's (SIC) plea challenging the denial of reserved seats.
A five-member larger bench led by Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and including Justices Ijaz Anwar, S M Attique Shah, Shakeel Ahmed and Syed Arshad Ali resumed the hearing on the case.
Last week, a two-member bench of the PHC comprising Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Shakeel Ahmad issued a stay order preventing members from swearing in and directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to submit its response in the said matter.
Earlier, the ECP rejected the SIC plea seeking the allocation of reserved seats.
The ECP, in a 4-1 verdict, said the SIC is not entitled to claim quota for reserved seats due to having “non curable legal defects and violation of a mandatory provision of submission of party list for reserved seats which is the requirement of law”.
“The seats in the National Assembly shall not remain vacant and will be allotted by proportional representation process of political parties on the basis of seats won by political parties,” the order said.
PTI-backed lawmakers after winning elections joined the SIC.
The party had written to the ECP seeking allocation of reserved seats in the national as well as three provincial assemblies, excluding Balochistan.
