ISLAMABAD, July 20, 2024 – Three Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) members have filed a review petition against the Supreme Court’s recent decision on reserved seats.
Huma Akhtar Chughtai, Mah Jabeen Abbasi, and Syeda Amnah Batool submitted their petitions on Saturday, urging the Supreme Court to annul the July 12 majority decision as “null and void.”
On July 13, a full bench of the Supreme Court had allocated reserved seats, including those for minorities and women, to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). This ruling overturned previous orders from the Peshawar High Court and the Election Commission of Pakistan, which had assigned these seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
The majority decision, authored by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and endorsed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, stated, “Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was and is a political party which secured and won general seats in the national and provincial assemblies in the general elections of 2024.” The ruling was supported by eight justices and announced by Justice Shah.
The petitioners have named the Sunni Ittehad Council and the Election Commission of Pakistan, among others, as respondents. They argue that the SIC failed to submit a list for the reserved seats, and thus, the allocation of these seats to PTI should be declared invalid.
The petitioners contend that permitting 41 members who joined the SIC to switch parties effectively rewrites the Constitution and deviates from established legal principles. They have requested the court to declare the July 12 decision “unconstitutional.”
“The Impugned Order is against the settled principles of interpretation of the Constitution,” the petition states. “By creating a procedure not provided under the Constitution, the Impugned Order may have ventured into the realm of creating, rather than interpreting, the Constitution, which contradicts the long-standing jurisprudence of this Court.”
The case continues to generate significant debate as it moves through the judicial process, with implications for party positions in the National Assembly and the broader political landscape.
