Tariq Saeed
Peshawar

Acceding to the request of the Sunni Ittehad Council the Peshawar High Court Peshawar on Wednesday stayed the oath-taking of lawmakers notified on reserved seats that were denied to the PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council.

The PHC bench comprising Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Shakeel Ahmed issued the directives during Wednesday’s hearing. The court issued a stay order preventing members from swearing in and directed the Election Commission of Pakistan to submit its response in the said matter by Thursday.
The Election Commission of Pakistan had on Tuesday notified allocation of reserved seats for women and minorities, which were claimed by the PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council to Pakistan Muslim League of Nawaz and its allies including PPP and MQM P.

The move came a day after the electoral body rejected the SIC petition, seeking allocation of reserved seats following a merger with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

The electoral body instead accepted applications of the opposing parties and decided that the seats in the National Assembly and provincial assemblies would not remain vacant and would be allocated by a proportional representation process of political parties on the basis of seats won by political parties, thus forcing the PTI backed SIC, which emerged as the largest party in the February 8 polls, restricted to 82 seats.

During the hearing the court questioned whether the high court could be moved on the issue of reserved seats. Elaborating on the plea, the petitioner’s lawyer Qazi Anwar cited Articles 51 and 106 of the constitution stressing that the PTI-backed independent candidates had joined the SIC within the three-day deadline.

To this Justice Ibrahim remarked “This is an accepted fact and no one can ignore it”.
Notifying the attorney general and the advocate general to assist the court in the matter, the court then referred the case to the PHC chief justice for the constitution of a larger bench to hear the case. The Peshawar High Court also ordered the Speakers not to administer oaths to members elected on reserved seats till tomorrow Thursday.