The Supreme Court is set to announce its verdict today on the case related to reserved seats of the Sunni Ittehad Council.
A 13-member bench of the apex court, which has been hearing the case, will pronounce the verdict.
The larger bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, deliberated on the matter once again today and decided to pronounce the judgment on Friday. A consultation session of the full court under the chairmanship of the CJP was held in Islamabad, which was attended by all the judges of the 13-member bench, as per the sources.
A full court consultation session was held on Wednesday also under the chairmanship of Chief Justice Isa, where all 13 judges participated. During the meeting, each judge provided their opinion based on the arguments presented by the lawyers and the records of all parties involved in the case.
Sources indicate that the judges engaged in extensive discussions on important legal questions and thoroughly examined the arguments and evidence. The opinions of the judges were meticulously gathered on each point of the case.
Further consultations among the judges on the bench were anticipated before issuing the short order. If a consensus is reached, the final decision could be delivered as soon as possible.
On July 9, the Supreme Court reserved its verdict in the case related to the reserved seats of the Sunni Ittehad Council.
During the hearing, the Sunni Ittehad Council lawyer said the party members were not independent, the election commission had recognized the SIC as a parliamentary party.
Justice Mandokhel remarked that at the time of distribution of the reserved seats, the SIC members were probably independent, to which the lawyer said the independent candidates had become part of the SIC at the time of the allocation of the reserved seats, which can be proved by the election commission records.
Justice Irfan Saadat remarked that Faisal Siddiqui’s party had got a bonus, as his party did not contest the election but got 90 seats. Justice Minallah asked if the election was conducted in normal conditions and transparently. “Why did a major political party have to send its candidates to another party?” he asked.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s women’s wing president Kanwal Shauzab’s lawyer Salman Akram Raja alleged that the election commission was concealing records, and the documents it submitted in court were unreliable.
The lawyer said the reserved seats were meant for the Sunni Ittehad Council, adding it is unconstitutional to make general seat mandatory for joining a party, Justice Minallah asked if the court should not correct the mistakes made in the election process. Salman Akram Raja said the court can issue any order to implement the Constitution.
