Daily Times

In a significant legal triumph for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the party is eligible for reserved seats. The 8-5 majority verdict, announced by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, overturned the Peshawar High Court’s decision which had upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) denial of these seats to PTI. Justices Athar Minallah, Shahid Waheed, Muneeb Akhtar, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha Malik, Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, and Irfan Saadat Khan supported the verdict. The PTI candidates had to align with the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) due to not contesting the polls under a single symbol, which led to the ECP ruling against them. However, the court declared that the absence of an election symbol does not impact a political party’s Constitutional or legal right to participate in elections and that the commission must adhere to all statutory provisions. Some jurists pointed out that the apex court had not ruled PTI ineligible for the general elections, suggesting a misinterpretation of the verdict by the commission.