PMLN files review plea against SC order on PTI reserved seats

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) on Monday filed a review petition with the Supreme Court, requesting it to recall its judgment declaring the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) eligible for the reserved seats for women and minorities in the National and provincial assemblies.

The PMLN, through its president, filed the review petition under Article 188 of the Constitution, read with Order XXVI Rule 1 of the Supreme Court Rules 1980, against the short order passed on July 12, 2024.

In the review petition, Sunni Itehad Council Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), MQM, Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarian (PPPP), and others have been named as respondents.

Filed through Barrister Haris Azmat, the PMLN president prayed to the apex court to review and recall its order passed on July 12, 2024. The petition stated that the PMLN is the largest political party in parliament and has formed the incumbent government at the centre and in the province of Punjab. The PMLN has played a key role in the development and progression of Pakistan.

“It is the visionary leadership of the PMLN that has saved Pakistan from economic disaster and set a new direction of growth, prosperity, and security,” the review petition contended. The PMLN president cited paragraph 5 of the order passed by the apex court in the judgment, which declared that for the purposes, and within the meaning, of paragraphs (d) and (e) of clause (6) of Article 51 (“Article 51 Provisions”) and paragraph (c) of clause (3) of Article 106 (“Article 106 Provisions”) of the Constitution, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was and is a political party that secured or won (the two terms being interchangeable) general seats in the National and provincial assemblies in the General Elections of 2024.

However, the PMLN contended that these findings of the apex court are beyond the pleadings of the parties, adding that the issue of granting the reserved seats to the PTI was not even in the pleadings of the SIC and hence cannot be granted.

“It is a cardinal and well-settled principle in our jurisprudence that parties are bound by their pleadings. In this case, neither the SIC sought this relief nor pleaded for the same,” the PMLN submitted, praying to the apex court to recall its order.

It was further submitted that the SIC and the PTI are two separate political parties and entities, while the order under review seems to have treated them as one party with different names, which is not permissible under the law.

The PMLN reiterated that the PTI had neither filed any case before the ECP, Peshawar High Court, nor the Supreme Court; hence, it is not entitled to any relief, let alone a relief that was not even pleaded.

“The order under review has not taken into account that 80 MNAs had filed their nomination papers as independent candidates and then joined the SIC as independent candidates,” the review petition submitted, adding that none has come forward to state otherwise. Therefore, the assumption in the order under review that the said MNAs are PTI candidates is liable to be reviewed.

The PMLN submitted that the Constitution, in terms of Article 51(6)(d) and (e), only gives three days to the returned candidates to decide which political party to join. However, in this case, the order under review has been given 15 days from the date of the order under review, in clear contradiction to the Constitution.

The review petition contended that no new procedure or process can be adopted that is not provided in the Constitution; hence, the order under review may be recalled. Similarly, it was contended that the order under review has neither struck down nor read down Article 51(6)(d) and (e) of the Constitution nor Article 104 of the Election Act read with the Election Rules.

The PMLN president submitted that the court order dated July 12 is against the settled principles of interpretation of the Constitution. Without prejudice to the foregoing, the order under review is silent on the main controversy between the parties.

The PMLN questioned whether the SIC should be granted reserved seats and whether reserved seats can be granted to a political party that has not submitted a party list within the prescribed time given in the election programme. It further questioned whether a political party can be given reserved seats when its candidates have not even filed nomination papers within the time provided in the election programme.

“Can independents even join a political party that has not won a single general seat in Parliament, and can the seats be left vacant or must they be distributed among the political parties contesting for the said seats?” the PMLN further questioned.

It also questioned what the “proportional representation system of political parties’ lists of candidates” means. “These were some of the issues on which the court heard arguments, but the same are not answered in the short order under review,” the PMLN contended, adding that the order passed by the apex court on July 12 is liable to be recalled.