ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa on Tuesday said that the issue of reserved seats would simply not exist if the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had conducted its intra-party polls.
He passed these remarks during a hearing of the Sunni Ittehad Council’s petition against the denial of reserved seats, held by a full 13-member bench of the top court.
The 13-full member bench was headed by CJP Isa, comprises Justices Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Munib Akhtar, Yahya Afridi, Aminuddin Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha Malik, Athar Minallah, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Shahid Waheed, Irfan Saadat Khan and Naeem Akhtar Afghan.
During today’s hearing, Advocate Faisal Siddiqui, representing the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), argued that although the SIC didn’t officially contest the elections as a party, independent candidates joined the SIC and participated in the polls.
He told the court that the SIC did submit a list of candidates, but the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected it, saying the party didn’t compete in the elections.
Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa pointed out that the SIC had presented itself as both a parliamentary political party and a political party at different times.
In response, Siddiqui contended that a political party could also function as a parliamentary political party, citing constitutional distinctions.
“The Constitution differentiates between a parliamentary political party and a political party,” the chief justice noted.
‘We were a political party before the February 8 elections and became a parliamentary political party after [winning] independent candidates joined us,” the SIC lawyer replied stressing that the Constitution doesn’t provisions the words “parliamentary party” other than Article 63A.
CJP Isa countered that had the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) conducted intra-party polls, many issues, including the allocation of reserved seats, might have been avoided.
Justice Akhtar recalled that independent candidates, ostensibly affiliated with the PTI, had their nomination papers accepted and won seats. He remarked that a candidate who portrays himself as belonging to a party will be considered to be affiliated with it.
The Chief Justice queried why the PTI didn’t seek its symbol as independents.
“Not all independent candidates can request the bat symbol,” the counsel clarified, highlighting that despite Salman Akram Raja’s attempt to be recognized as a PTI candidate by the ECP, his request was dismissed.
“There’s a specific form for each constituency; why wasn’t it utilized?” the judge pressed.
He suggested that the party should have initially declared its candidates as independents and then pursued the bat symbol.
“You should have made an effort to secure the bat symbol. The SC could have then decided on its allocation,” the CJP remarked.
The court subsequently adjourned the hearing until June 24th.
