Attorney general opposes SIC plea for reserved seats

• Says a party is only entitled to such seats if it contests polls
• LHC grants ECP, respondents more time to respond
• ATC sends MPA Hafiz Farhat to jail on judicial remand
• Fawad Chaudhry files petition against potential arrest in undisclosed FIR

PESHAWAR/LAHORE: The attorney general for Pakistan (AGP) on Wednesday requested a larger bench of Peshawar High Court to reject Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) petitions, seeking allocation of reserved seats in the assemblies, as it neither contested the general elections nor submitted priority lists of its candidates for the said seats.

Supporting the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) March 1 order to deny the SIC reserved seats for women and minorities in the National and provincial assemblies, AGP Mansoor Usman Awan and lawyers for three political parties argued that the two petitions filed by the SIC were not maintainable as the petitioner was not a parliamentary party entitled to its share in the reserved seats.

The bench was reviewing two petitions filed by the SIC, joined by PTI-backed independents who won the elections without a unified electoral symbol, challenging the ECP’s decision to deny them reserved seats, which were instead allotted to other parties.

The bench, consisting of Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, Justice Ijaz Anwar, Justice Syed Muhammad Attique Shah, Justice Shakeel Ahmad, and Justice Syed Arshad Ali, expressed annoyance over the non-appearance of Barrister Ali Zafar and Babar Awan, the lead lawyers of the petitioner, noting that no application was submitted for adjournment.

One of the lawyers for the petitioner, Qazi Mohammad Anwar, stated that first, the ECP had deprived the PTI of its election symbol, and now, when its independently elected members had joined the SIC, it had been deprived of its share of the reserved seats.

When the bench inquired whether any candidate of the SIC got elected in the polls, he replied in the negative. He requested the bench to postpone the hearing of the matter as it would be argued by the lead counsel.

Despite expressing its displeasure, the bench adjourned the hearing till Thursday (March 14).

The court had issued a restraining order on March 6 stopping the oath-taking of eight women MNAs-elect from KP who were assigned the National Assembly reserved seats claimed by the SIC.

LHC asks respondents to submit replies

Separately, the Lahore High Court (LHC) granted an opportunity to the ECP and other respondents to submit replies to a petition filed by the SIC against a decision to deprive the party of its reserved seats.

Law officers representing the federal and Punjab governments appeared before the court and sought time to furnish replies.

Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal granted the request and adjourned the hearing till March 25.

SIC’s counsel, Ishtiaq A. Khan, urged the court to suspend the schedule for the Senate election. However, the judge noted that it would be inappropriate to pass any order without reviewing the replies of the respondents.

The respondents also include PPP, PML-N, MQM-P, IPP, and their members notified by the ECP on seats reserved for women and minorities.

In his petition, SIC Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza contended that the ECP misconstrued and misapplied the provisions of Articles 51 and 106 of the Constitution, as well as Section 104 of the Elections Act, 2017.

Hafiz Farhat on judicial remand

In a relevant development, an anti-terrorism court on Wednesday sent SIC’s MPA Hafiz Farhat Abbas to jail on judicial remand and sought a reply from the police on his bail petition in a case of alleged violence during a rally against alleged rigging in the last month’s general elections.

Old Anarkali police presented the MPA before the court after his two-day physical remand expired.

Judge Arshad Javed issued a notice to the prosecution on a bail petition on behalf of the MPA. The MPA’s counsel argued that the case was politically motivated. The judge directed the prosecution to submit its reply by March 16.

Fawad Chaudhry files petition

In another development, former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry filed a petition in the Lahore High Court against his potential arrest in an undisclosed FIR.

Mr Chaudhry, through counsel, pleaded that he had been on physical remand in cases lodged by the NAB, ACE, and the police for 41 days.

The petitioner said, there was a possibility of his arrest in a new but undisclosed case by any of the law enforcement agencies.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2024