ISLAMABAD: A tug-of-war has started on the issue of seats reserved for women and minorities in the National and provincial assemblies with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)filing separate petitions in the Supreme Court.
The ECP in its review petition requested the apex court to recall its judgment delivered on July 12, declaring that the PTI was entitled to get the reserved seats, while the PTI challenged the Elections (Second Amendment) Act 2024, approved by parliament on Tuesday, with the prayer to declare it ultra vires of the Constitution.
The ECP through its secretary filed the review petition under Article 188 of the Constitution for review SC judgment in the appeal filed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) against the judgment of the Peshawar High Court and the electoral body. The ECP made the SIC and its Chairman Sahibazada Hamid Raza, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQMP), Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) through their presidents and others as respondents. It prayed the apex court to accept the review petition by revisiting, reviewing, reconsidering and recalling its judgment in the interest of justice and equity.
The ECP contended that it has performed its duties under the law and the Constitution, and there has been no misinterpretation of any legal provision or any judgment passed by the apex court.
It claimed that it has followed the order of the Supreme Court passed in Civil Petition No 42/2024, in its letter and spirit; and decided the list before the ECP for reserved seats under the prevailing law and the Constitution.
“Without prejudice, the court could not have stepped into the constitutional role of the ECP under Article 218(3),” the electoral body contended, adding that even a decision passed on an incorrect interpretation of the law by a constitutional body must be remanded for reconsideration based on the correct interpretation. This must be done especially where the establishment of facts is necessary before any meaningful decision can be reached and the court is not in a position to conduct the in-depth fact-finding required.
