The Supreme Court of Pakistan has announced a 13-member full bench to hear the case of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) regarding reserved seats. The full bench, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, will hold the hearing on June 24 and 25.

The case stems from the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) refusal to allocate reserved seats to the SIC in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. The Peshawar High Court upheld the ECP’s decision, leading the SIC to appeal to the Supreme Court.

During a previous hearing on June 3rd, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail remarked that the public should never be excluded from the electoral process, emphasizing that voters had cast ballots for individuals nominated by political parties, not for independent candidates.

Justice Athar Minallah inquired whether the ECP could act against a political party, and whether the SIC was registered as a political party. Justice Aminuddin asked if the SIC had contested the elections as a political party. Justice Jamal further commented that the perception that the PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) had been dissolved suggested a decline in democracy.

The full bench, comprising Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, will hear the case.

People voted for a party’s candidates, not independents: Justice Mandokhail

List of lawmakers suspended following SC decision on reserved seats

Reserved seats decision will affect the entire parliamentary system: Raja

Justice Musarrat Hilali was absent due to illness.

The hearing will be broadcast live on the Supreme Court’s website and YouTube channel.

Salman Akram Raja and Faisal Siddiqui, representing the SIC, and the Advocate General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Shah Faisal Usman, will present arguments before the court.