Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved verdict on Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) plea, seeking reserved seats.
A 13-member full court, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, heard the plea. Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha A. Malik, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, were also the part of the bench.
Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) counsel Faisal Siddiqui on Tuesday submitted before the Supreme Court that he would prove that the Election Commission (ECP) has not fulfilled its responsibility.
He submitted that he would be brief and take 15 minutes to argue his point.
Advocate Siddiqui stated that they [ECP] argued that the SIC did not participate in the elections, did not submit the list of candidates for reserved seats.
He argued that the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) did not win any seats in 2018 but got three reserved seats. The ECP submitted a prejudiced response regarding the BAP election.
The issue was raised before the ECP before moving the Supreme Court, he submitted and added that the ECP claim was contrary to its own documents. Isn’t it distortion [of facts]?
Justice Mandokhail asked the lawyer was the ECP decision in accordance with the Constitution? He replied that [in 2018] it was in accordance with the law.
Justice Minallah inquired him whether the ECP decision on the BAP reserved seats was challenged.
Advocate Siddiqui said that the ECP would have admitted that there was a mistake. But it acted as if the decision regarding the BAP did not exist.
The SC after hearing arguments from the respondents reserved its verdict.
