Reserved seats verdict: PTI's Salman Akram Raja files contempt plea

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Salman Akram Raja has filed contempt of court plea in Supreme Court against non-implementation of reserved seats verdict, ARY News reported.

Raja in his plea made members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as respondents.

Citing non-implementation of the SC’s verdict on the reserved seats, the PTI leader has urged the SC to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the ECP members.

The Supreme Court initially ruled on July 12 that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was eligible for reserved seats, contradicting the Election Commission’s March 1 decision.

The ruling was reaffirmed in a detailed judgment released last month.

Clarification

On 18 October, Supreme Court in another clarification reiterated that amendments to the Election Act cannot nullify its July 12 ruling on the reserved seats case.

“ECP is bound to implement Supreme Court decisions,” stated the judges in today’s clarification.

Read more: Election Act amendment cannot override July 12 ruling on reserved seats: SC

The judges clarified that Election Act Amendments cannot override judicial decisions, including the July 12 ruling of the top court.

The development comes hours after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) legal team had advised to restore the lawmakers who were suspended after the Supreme Court landmark verdict on the reserved seats.

According to sources, the ECP meeting headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja concluded, with legal team advising the commission to implement its decision after the election act as every institution is bound to do so.

Reserved seats issue

The issue came to limelight after over 80 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) backed independent candidates emerged victorious in the February 8 elections.

The SIC then approached the ECP on February 21 seeking allocation of reserved seats.

However, the PTI suffered a setback after the electoral body, citing the party’s failure to submit its list of candidates, denied allocating the reserved seats to the SIC via its 4-1 majority verdict on March 4.

The election commission distributed the reserved seats for women and minorities among other political parties.

The PTI-backed SIC had approached the court after the ECP refused to allocate the seats due to the party’s failure to submit its list of candidates before the deadline. The Peshawar High Court (PHC) upheld the ECP’s decision, leading the SIC to appeal to the Supreme Court.