ISLAMABAD: Minister for Law and Justice Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar reacted to the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan’s order to suspend the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Peshawar High Court (PHC) verdict on Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) reserved seats plea, ARY News reported.
In a statement issued here, the law minster said that it would have been appropriate if the larger bench of the Supreme Court heard the matter.
“Under the Supreme Court Practice and Procedures Act, a five-member larger bench would have been appropriate to hear the appeal as it was a matter of interpretation of Articles 51 and 106 of the Constitution,” Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar added
He was of the view that a stay order should have been avoided in the matter of the legislative power of the Parliament.
The law minister hoped that the decision of the ECP and the PHC would be upheld in the final decision of the apex court.
Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar said that Article 67 clearly states that legislation passed by a member of the Parliament remained valid despite his disqualification.
Read More: SC suspends ECP, PHC’s verdict on SIC reserved seats
Earlier in the
day, a three-member SC bench headed by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah suspended the verdict pertaining to the allocation of reserved seats to other political parties.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said that the case has been fixed for hearing and “we are suspending the ECP and PHC verdicts.”
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said that the suspension verdict only applies to the allocation of reserved seats. He emphasized that the people’s mandate should be represented correctly in Parliament.
ECP verdict
Prior to this, Election Commission of Pakistan rejected the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) petition, seeking the allocation of reserved seats following a ‘merger’ with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for this specific purpose.
In the verdict, the ECP said the SIC is not entitled to claim quota for reserved seats due to having “non curable legal defects and violation of a mandatory provision of submission of party list for reserved seats which is the requirement of law”.
“The seats in the National Assembly shall not remain vacant and will be allotted by proportional representation process of political parties on the basis of seats won by political parties,” the order said.
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