Entitlement to Reserved Seats by SIC and PTI

The Supreme Court of Pakistan addressed appeals and petitions in Civil Appeal No. 333 of 2024, involving the allocation of reserved seats for women and non-Muslims in the National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies following the 2024 general elections. The core issues revolved around the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Key Issues:

SIC's Entitlement to Reserved Seats: The SIC did not participate in the 2024 general elections and failed to secure any seats in the National or Provincial Assemblies. Consequently, they did not submit a list of candidates for reserved seats. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the Peshawar High Court ruled that SIC was not entitled to any reserved seats, upholding the decision that SIC did not meet the necessary criteria.

Proportional Representation and Reserved Seats: Article 51(3) of the Constitution mandates the allocation of 60 seats for women and 10 seats for non-Muslims in the National Assembly through a proportional representation system based on the total number of general seats secured by each political party. The ECP's exclusion of PTI candidates from this calculation was a key point of contention.

Status and Rights of PTI Candidates: Many candidates had declared their affiliation with PTI on their nomination forms but were later categorized as independents by the ECP due to non-compliance with intra-party election requirements. The court held that candidates who declared their affiliation with PTI on oath and did not contradict this should be considered PTI members. The ECP's reclassification of these candidates as independents was deemed unauthorized.

Court's Conclusion: The Supreme Court concluded that SIC is not entitled to reserved seats due to non-participation in the elections. PTI candidates who declared their affiliation with PTI must be recognized as PTI members, and the reserved seats should be allocated accordingly. The ECP must recalculate and reallocate the reserved seats among political parties, including PTI, ensuring compliance with the constitutional provisions and proportional representation system.

The Supreme Court emphasized that the reserved seats for women and non-Muslims must be filled as provided by the Constitution and the Elections Act, 2017. The ECP was directed to reissue notifications for the reserved seats, ensuring that PTI receives its proportional share based on the revised calculations.

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