Reserved seats: ‘There will be repercussions if women or minorities are not listed’
During the hearing of the case related to the specific seats of the Sunni Ittehad Council in the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa remarked that if the list of women or minorities is not given, there will be consequences.
A 13-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice, is hearing appeals against Peshawar High Court’s decision by the Sunni Ittehad Council regarding specific seats.
The Peshawar High Court had upheld the Election Commission’s decision not to give specific seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council for not submitting the list before the elections.
During the hearing on Tuesday, the Chief Justice said that if the list of women or minorities is not given, there will be consequences. If the prize bond is not bought, then how will the prize bond come out, it is necessary to buy it.
Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa said that whether the minority or women are in a political party or not, their representation has to be secured.
During the hearing, Justice Ayesha Malik said that the result of elections can be easily changed from certain seats.
Makhdoom Ali Khan, the lawyer of the elected members on specific seats, said that the fact is that the Sunni Ittehad Council neither gave the list nor participated in the elections.
He said that if there are two political parties, specific seats will be shared between them.
During the hearing on Monday, Chief Justice Faiz Isa had remarked that if Tehreek-e-Insaf is a political party, why did independent candidates separate from Tehreek-e-Insaf? If independent candidates had remained in Tehreek-e-Insaf, there would have been no problem today.
Justice Jamal Mandukhel remarked that ‘how can a political party which did not even bother to contest elections get reserved seats?’
Speaking to lawyer Faisal Siddiqui, the Chief Justice said, “You are the lawyer of Sunni Ittehad and not of PTI, your argument in favor of Tehreek-e-Insaaf is a conflict of interest.”
Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa said that the election sign was not withdrawn from the Sunni Ittehad Council. “By not following the constitution, this country has been insulted. I have taken an oath to follow the constitution.”
He said that we have to look at the constitution and not the interest of any political party or government.
It may be recalled that the Election Commission has submitted its written reply in which it has been stated that despite the deadline of December 24, the Sunni Ittehad Council has not submitted the lists of specific seats.
“According to the constitution of the Sunni Ittehad Council, non-Muslims cannot become party members and are not eligible for specific seats.”
