A larger bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) has once again postponed the oath-taking of nine women lawmakers who had been awarded reserved seats claimed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC). The court’s decision, extending the restraining order until March 13, came after a petition filed by the SIC challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to deny reserved seats to the party for women and non-Muslims in the National and provincial assemblies.
The PHC bench granted an adjournment requested by the deputy attorney general, Sanaullah Khan, pushing the case’s hearing to mid-March and prolonging the interim relief granted to the petitioner earlier this month. The bench also reissued notices to absent respondents through the ECP, including PML-N, MQM-Pakistan, Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP), and some MNAs-elect.
The SIC also approached the Lahore High Court against the ECP’s decision, filing a writ petition that contended the Commission had misconstrued and misapplied constitutional provisions in allocating reserved seats. The petition requested the court to set aside the ECP’s decision and allocate reserved seats to the SIC based on its strength in the National Assembly and provincial assembly from Punjab. A hearing is scheduled for Friday before Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh.