ISLAMABAD: In a repair over methods to proceed on Supreme Court docket’s detailed verdict within the reserved seats case after the newly-enacted Election Act Modification Invoice 2024, the Election Fee of Pakistan (ECP) has submitted two extra petitions within the apex court docket, in search of keep on its July 12 order.
In its 70-page detailed judgment issued on Sept 23, the apex court docket termed the PTI “a political social gathering” and eligible for the seats’ reserved for girls and minorities.
The electoral watchdog, a day earlier, approached the highest court docket to hunt its steering whether or not to comply with amended Election Act 2017 or its judgment on the matter of allocating reserved seats to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The ECP talked about the Nationwide Meeting Speaker Ayaz Sadiq’s letter stating that amendments had been made to the Election Act after the highest court docket’s verdict declaring the opposition social gathering eligible for the reserved seats.
Speaker Sadiq had instructed the ECP in his letter that the apex court docket’s July 12 ruling was “incapable of implementation” after the amendments to Election Act 2017.
Apart from civil miscellaneous petition, the Election Fee additionally filed two different petitions for evaluate regarding the ‘clarification order’ and in search of stick with regard to the July 12 order’s implementation until the pleas had been determined, it emerged on Friday (as we speak).
By the petitions, the fee sought SC’s steering with respect to the impact of the Elections (Second) Modification Act, 2024 on the brief order of the apex court docket of July 12, clarification order dated Sept 14 and detailed judgment dated Sept 23 within the curiosity of justice.
The ECP, in its petition, famous the apex court docket’s reserved seats verdict was based mostly on “assumptions”, including: “It can not rewrite the Structure on pretext of interpretation.”
“The Supreme Court docket in its detailed judgment dated Sept 23, 2024, deviated from [the] July 12 verdict,” it stated, noting that the court docket within the detailed order declared the 41 returned candidates because the members of the previous ruling social gathering.
The ECP identified that the Structure binds unbiased lawmakers to affix any political social gathering inside three days, however “the Supreme Court docket granted them 15 days — a transfer which modified the phrases of the Structure”.
The unbiased candidates submitted affidavits of allegiance to Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), which the physique says, was “fully ignored” within the court docket’s ruling.
“Even when the certificates, submitted by PTI Chairman [Barrister Gohar Ali Khan], are recognised or accepted, the variety of PTI members doesn’t attain 39,” the ECP stated, including that the candidates didn’t submit social gathering affiliation certificates underneath Part 66 of the Election Act.
The electoral boy maintained that the reserved seats can’t be allotted to Imran Khan-founded social gathering, noting that the PTI didn’t declare its share at any discussion board.
In what it known as a serious victory for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), a 13-member full bench of the highest court docket on July 12 dominated that the Imran Khan-founded social gathering was eligible for the allocation of reserved seats for girls and non-Muslims within the nationwide and provincial assemblies.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah introduced the 8-5 majority verdict, nullifying the Peshawar Excessive Court docket’s (PHC) order whereby it had upheld the Election Fee of Pakistan’s (ECP) resolution denying the reserved seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC)
The PTI candidates contested the Feb 8 common elections as independents after the highest court docket upheld the ECP resolution to deprive the opposition social gathering of its iconic electoral image — bat — over “illegal” intra-party polls.
The choice pressured the PTI-backed profitable candidates to affix the SIC in a bid to say reserved seats. Nevertheless, the ECP denied the reserved to the SIC over its failure to submit record of candidates throughout the stipulated time.
