Justice Ayesha Malik of the Supreme Court on Monday declared that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) holds the reins of the formula for the allocation of reserved seats, granting it the authority to declare any candidate as an independent candidate.

As part of a 13-member full-court SC bench hearing the Sunni Ittehad Council's (SIC) plea against the Peshawar High Court's (PHC) verdict upholding the ECP decision denying them reserved seats, Justice Malik said the commission can declare anyone independent as per its will. 

The bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, comprises Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan.  

During the hearing on Monday, ECP's lawyer Sikander Bashir informed the court that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Inaf (PTI) issued party affiliation certificates along with Form 66, which were signed by Barrister Gohar Khan.

Nonetheless, the counsel contended that the nomination papers submitted by the candidates of the party were invalid as it had not conducted intra-party polls at the time nor elected a party chairman.

CJP Isa noted that it is an accepted fact that the PTI failed to hold elections within the party despite being given a year's notice.

Moreover, Justice Malik inquired about the counsel of the electoral body with regards to the KP advocate general's contention that the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) was granted reserved seats despite the failure to submit the list of candidates.

The judge noted that the ECP had not taken any action against the BAP, and further inquired whether the electoral body had held any meetings regarding the aforementioned party. 

Justice Mansoor emphasized that the court aspires to accord equal rights to all political parties. "The court wants to ensure that no party is given more or less seats than what is due to it," he said.

The court then directed the ECP to submit details of the reserved seats allocated in 2024 along with the documents regarding the relevant formula, and adjourned the hearing until 11:30am on Tuesday. 

The entire reserved seats issue has significance, as the PTI-backed independent candidates, who make up the majority of the opposition benches, lost as many as 77 reserved seats in NA and provincial assemblies due to the PHC's verdict.

The issue first emerged after the PTI-backed independent candidates emerged victorious in the February 8 elections and joined the SIC in a bid to claim seats reserved for minorities and women.

However, the PTI suffered a setback when the ECP refused to allocate the reserved seats to the SIC, citing the party's failure to submit its list of candidates.

The party then approached the Primary Health Commission, which upheld the electoral body's decision on the matter.

The SIC then moved the SC seeking to set aside the PHC verdict and the allocation of 67 women and 11 minority seats in the assemblies.

They ultimately reached the supreme court, where the ECP has contended that the reserved seats cannot be allocated to the SIC due to the party's failure to submit the list of candidates before the January 24 deadline.

Whereas, the federal government, via the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan, submitted its written response to the apex court urging it to reject the SIC's appeal seeking the allocation of reserved seats for women and minorities in the National and

The 30-page written submission argues that reserved seats for minorities and women should be given to a political party that contested the polls and won at least one seat, besides providing a list of candidates based on the total number of seats it won as per the law.

Moreover, the PTI has also approached the Supreme Court in an attempt to join the aforementioned case, arguing that the PTI and the SIC were denied reserved seats despite being eligible. The SIC was prepared to furnish a list of candidates for the allocations; however, it was denied permission to submit it.