- PTI holds ECP chief in contempt case.
- The party seeks the immediate implementation of the Security Council order.
- The SC ruled that PTI is eligible for allotment of reserved seats.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday filed a contempt of court application against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for not implementing the Supreme Court orders in the reserved seats case.
Members of the country’s top electoral body, including President Sikandar Sultan Raja, participated in the petition filed by PTI leader and senior lawyer Salman Akram Raja.
According to the petition, the European Executive Committee should be ordered to immediately implement the ruling and take necessary action against the committee members.
“The said judgment and clarifications/orders leave no doubt whatsoever that the PTI is entitled to reserved seats proportional to the seats in the National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies won by it as per the judgment dated 12,” the petition said, quoting the judgment. July 2024.
“The European Commission has not yet acted on the ruling (…) and completed the process of electing women and non-Muslims to the reserved seats in the National Assembly as well as the regional assemblies.”
On July 12, the Supreme Court ruled that the PTI was eligible for reserved seats, paving the way for the party’s return to Parliament.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, of the full bench of the Supreme Court, announced the ruling by a majority of 8-5, setting aside the order of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) in which it upheld the ECP’s decision to reject reserved seats for the PTI-backed Sunni Federation Council.
PTI candidates did not contest the polls on a single symbol, forcing them to cooperate with the SIC, but the party could not get the reserved seats as the ECP ruled against them.
In its decision, the court declared that the absence or denial of an electoral symbol does not in any way affect the constitutional or legal rights of a political party to participate in elections, whether general or elective, and to present candidates, and that the Commission has a constitutional duty to implement all legal provisions in accordance with So.
“PTI was and remains a political party that won overall seats in the national and local assemblies in the 2024 general elections,” the ruling said.
According to the ruling, the Primary Care Court ruling of March 25 was overturned. “The order issued by the European Commission on March 1 is considered unconstitutional, without legal authority, and has no legal effect,” the statement read.
The Supreme Court observed that Imran Khan’s PTI, as a political party, has a legal and constitutional right to reserved seats.