In a major blow to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench has ruled that the party is not eligible for seats reserved for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies.
The verdict was announced by a 10-member bench, led by Justice Aminuddin Khan, on Friday.
Delivering the verdict, Justice Aminuddin Khan stated, “Justices Aminuddin Khan, Mussarat Hilali, Naeem Akhtar Afghan, Shahid Bilal Hassan, Hashim Khan Kakar, Aamir Farooq, and Ali Baqar Najafi have allowed all review petitions, setting aside the majority judgment of July 12, 2024. Consequently, the civil appeals filed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) are dismissed, and the Peshawar High Court’s ruling is reinstated.”
The review petitions were filed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), challenging the Supreme Court’s July 12, 2024, decision that had granted PTI reserved seats for women and minorities.
In the original ruling, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, part of the full bench, delivered an 8-5 majority verdict that overturned the Peshawar High Court’s order, which had upheld the ECP’s decision to deny reserved seats to the SIC.
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