ISLAMABAD: A larger bench consisting of five members from the Peshawar High Court has extended the stay order against parliament members elected to reserved seats until March 13.
Chaired by Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, the bench, which includes Justice Aijaz Anwar, Justice SM Atiq Shah, Justice Shakeel Ahmad, and Justice Syed Arshad Ali, will hear the case on Thursday.
Due to the absence of the attorney general, the additional attorney general requested an adjournment for the case.
During the proceedings, Qazi Anwar, representing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, argued that the core issue revolves around the upcoming presidential election scheduled for March 9.
Babar Awan, another lawyer, informed the court that despite winning 93 seats in the provincial assembly, his party had not been allocated any reserved seats, while a party winning only one seat was granted two reserved seats.
Consequently, the court decided to extend the stay order until March 13.
PTI’s Barrister Ali Zafar clarified that the ruling would apply to both the National Assembly and the KP assembly.
However, he stated that they would approach the Lahore High Court regarding reserved seats in the Punjab Assembly.
This development follows the previous day’s decision by the Peshawar High Court to halt the oath-taking of reserved seat members in the legislature.
In a separate matter, a two-member bench comprising Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Shakeel Ahmad had restrained MPs from taking their oath and sought a response from the Election Commission of Pakistan. The case was referred to the chief justice for consideration by a larger bench.
The case was initiated by the Sunni Ittehad Council challenging the ECP’s decision to withhold reserved seats in the National and provincial assemblies.
The ECP maintained that the SIC had not participated in the elections as a party and had not submitted lists for reserved seats.
