The Supreme Court of Pakistan has declared Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party eligible for seats reserved for women and minorities, delivering a significant blow to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s ruling coalition.
The verdict was delivered by a 13-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa. The court announced its decision a day after reserving it, following the conclusion of hearings on a set of appeals moved by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
The SIC had petitioned for the reallocation of 77 seats for women and minorities, originally allotted to Prime Minister Sharif’s ruling coalition after the February 8 general elections, to the PTI-backed alliance.
In March, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had ruled 4-1 that the SIC was not entitled to claim quota for reserved seats due to “non-curable legal defects” and failure to submit a mandatory party list. The ECP’s decision led to the redistribution of these seats among other parliamentary parties, with major beneficiaries including PML-N and PPP, and four seats going to JUI-F. This verdict was rejected by the PTI as unconstitutional.
The Peshawar High Court later dismissed an SIC plea challenging the ECP’s decision. In April, the SIC filed a petition before the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the PHC judgment.
On May 6, the Supreme Court suspended both the PHC judgment and the ECP decision, ordering the present petitions to be reviewed by a larger bench due to the constitutional nature of the issue. Following this, the ECP suspended the victory notifications of 77 members elected on the contested seats.
In Friday’s ruling, the Supreme Court annulled the decisions of both the PHC and the ECP, declaring them unconstitutional. The decision, delivered by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, was supported by a majority of eight judges, including Justices Shahid Waheed, Ayesha Malik, Irfan Saadat, Athar Minallah, Muneeb Akhtar, Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Muhammad Ali Mazhar.
This verdict reshapes the political landscape in Pakistan, affecting the composition of both national and provincial assemblies and shifting the balance of power within the government.