SC orders immediate implementation of reserved seats ruling

The Supreme Court criticized the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Saturday for its request for clarification on the court’s ruling regarding reserved seats. The court ordered the immediate implementation of its original decision, as reported by Aaj News.

The eight judges who supported the July ruling to allot reserved seats to the PTI stated that the ECP’s request was an “attempt to create confusion” and to “obstruct” the implementation of the court’s order. They described the ECP’s request as “a contrived device and adoption of dilatory tactics” in a clarification.

The judges noted that “Having itself recognised Barrister Gohar Ali Khan as the chairman of PTI, the commission cannot now turn around and purport to seek guidance from the court with regard to how the certifications are to be dealt with. The commission cannot approbate and reprobate, taking whatever [shifting] stance as it desires and as may seem to suit its immediate purposes for the moment.”

The verdict further emphasised that “the commission, even if one were to consider the application in the most sympathetic light, has apparently forgotten the well-known de facto doctrine or rule, in terms of which the acts of a person who holds an office are protected even if there may be [and no such conclusion is reached here in relation to the PTI] any issue with the position de jure. It sufficed and the commission was duty-bound in terms of the Constitution to keep in mind that the admitted position [as stated before the court during the hearing of the appeals] is that the PTI was, and is, an enlisted political party.”

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On July 12, a 13-judge full bench of the Supreme Court overturned the ECP and Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) decision that deprived the PTI-backed SIC of reserved seats and granted them to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) coalition. The 8-5 majority short verdict declared that the PTI was eligible for reserved seats for women and minorities in both the national and provincial assemblies.