ISLAMABAD/LAHORE:
The Supreme Court has fixed for hearing the review petitions filed against its July 12 ruling that awarded reserved seats to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in a major legal victory for the beleaguered party, setting the stage for a major constitutional re-examination this week.
A 13-member larger bench, led by Justice Aminuddin Khan, will hear the case on May 6, according to a cause list issued by the apex court.
The expanded bench includes Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Musarrat Hilali, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, Justice Aqeel Abbasi, Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan, Justice Hashim Kakar, Justice Salahuddin Panhwar, Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Ali Baqar Najafi.
However, contrary to SC rules, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, who authored the July 12 majority judgment, has not been included in the new bench. Under prevailing judicial norms, a judge who authored or participated in the original decision is typically included in any subsequent review hearing.
On July 12, 2024, an eight-member bench had ruled in favour of granting reserved seats to PTI through a majority decision authored by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah.
The bench included Justices Munib Akhtar, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha Malik, Athar Minallah, Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Shahid Waheed and Irfan Saadat Khan.
The original case had been filed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), which sought allocation of reserved seats following PTI-backed independents joining its platform. However, the top court ultimately ruled that the reserved seats should be allotted directly to PTI.
The ruling has since been challenged through review petitions by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and political parties including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).
Meanwhile, in Lahore, the Lahore High Court (LHC) heard a separate petition seeking implementation of the SC’s reserved seats verdict. Justice Khalid Ishaq presided over the hearing of the plea filed by a citizen, Munir Ahmed.
The petitioner’s counsel argued that the top court’s decision in the PTI reserved seats case had not yet been implemented. The lawyer urged the court to issue directions compelling authorities to act on the ruling and to formally allocate the seats to PTI.
“The Supreme Court’s verdict is being ignored,” the counsel submitted, requesting the court to issue binding instructions to enforce the ruling.
The petitioner also requested that the president and prime minister be removed from the list of respondents, suggesting they were not necessary parties in the current implementation plea.
Issuing notices to the ECP, the LHC adjourned further proceedings until May 16.
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