SIC moves LHC for not getting reserved seats

Sunni Ittehad Council Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza has challenged the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision of not allotting reserved seats to the party in the Lahore High Court.

In the petition filed by the chairman of Sunni Ittehad Council, the Election Commission of Pakistan has been made a party, in which it has been said that the commission is neither a tribunal nor a court.

In the plea, it was said that the Sunni Ittehad Council should get the reserved seats according to the proportion of seats in the Punjab Assembly. It does not matter whether the Sunni Ittehad Council contested the election or not, he added.

It is also said in the plea that the action of the Election Commission is equivalent to amending the Constitution. The decision of the Election Commission is beyond its authority.

It should be remembered that a few days ago, the Election Commission had rejected the Sunni Ittehad Council’s request for reserved seats by four to one.

The party lost 77 reserved seats due to the rejection of the Sunni Ittehad Council’s request and these seats have gone to the Pakistan Mulsam League-N, Pakistan People’s Party, MQM and JUI-F.

Earlier today, the Peshawar High Court has extended its stay order on the oath-taking ceremony of the lawmakers notified on reserved till March 13.

The court order came during the hearing of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council’s plea seeking allotment of reserve seats.

Moreover, the court has also summoned the Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan on the next hearing.

On Wednesday, the court had barred the lawmakers for taking oath on the reserved seats and directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to submit its response in the said matter by today.

The heading of the case was conducted by Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Shakeel Ahmad.

It is worth mentioning here that the SIC had challenged the ECP’s verdict on reserve seats on Monday.