Government files review petition on Supreme Court reserved seats verdict

The federal government has filed a review petition against the Supreme Court’s decision on reserved seats case.
The government filed this petition today in the apex court.
After the judgement in this case came, there were speculations that the government will not let this implemented rather will discuss it in the parliament. However, instead of debating this decision in the parliament, the government fled the review petition.
The top court on Friday decided the case in question in favor of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) despite the PTI was not a party to it. The court remarked, “The PTI is a political party and it will remain one.” The SC set aside the Peshawar High Court’s judgment which maintained the ECP’s action of depriving the PTI-backed SIC of these seats for women and non-Muslims in March. The ECP allotted 77 reserved seats to the political parties excluding the SIC in the national and provincial assemblies. The PTI-backed independent candidates winning the February 8 elections joined the SIC after their party was deprived of the electoral symbol.
The reserved seats judgement was a majority verdict as 8 out of 13 judges decided it in favor of the PTI. The Chief Justice of Pakistan opposed it along with other four judges. Earlier the SC held multiple hearings before this case was decided. After the ECP allotted the reserved seats to the political parties excluding the SIC, the SIC challenged it in the PHC which maintained the ECP’s decision. It was later challenged in the top court that suspended both the PHC and ECP’s judgments in May. The ECP in return suspended the notification of these which was a blow to the PMLN and PPP.
It deprived the ruling coalition of a two-thirds majority in the national assembly and reduced its strength to 209 from 228 in the House of 336. The two-thirds majority was 224 seats. The PMLN’s was condensed from 121 to 107, and the PPP to 67 from 72. Those suspended include 22 members of the NA – 14 from PML-N, five from the PPP, and three from JUIF. Given the situation, several questions arise like what will happen to the dreams of the government which with a large majority reportedly wanted to bring amendments to the Constitution, particularly regarding the increased service tenure of the SC’s chief justice. If the government had been able to amend this, the retirement age of the current CJP would have been constitutionally increased to three years. This increase in service could have stopped the chances of other senior judges of the SC to become the next chief. The government believes some of them are against it.
Owing to these reserved seats earlier the senate election in KP was postponed. The PTI earlier boycotted this election in the province of Sindh where the PPP secured 10 out of 11 seats. The ECP deferred this poll in KP on 11 seats under Article 218 (3) of the Constitution of Pakistan and under Section 58 of the Election Act due to the non-administration of oaths of the members on the reserved seats. The SC’s decision was largely hailed by the lawyer’s community, but the government was not happy with it at all. (By Rana Kashif)