WEB DESK: In a significant verdict, the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan has ruled that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will not receive reserved seats in national and provincial assemblies, instead allocating them to rival parties including PML-N, PPP, and JUI. The constitutional bench, headed by Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, delivered the judgment with a 7-5 majority, upholding the earlier decision of Peshawar High Court while accepting review petitions against its own previous ruling.
The majority judgment concluded that PTI was ineligible for reserved seats, with seven justices forming the decisive bloc. The bench included Justices Musarrat Hilali, Naeem Akhtar Afghan, Shahid Bilal, Hashim Khan Kakar, Aamer Farooq, and Ali Baqar Najafi alongside Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan. The court maintained that its decision aligned with constitutional requirements regarding seat allocations.
This is how ludicrous the SC decision is.
PTI with 93 elected seats in KP will have 0 reserved seats.
PTIP with 1 (Form 47, falsely) elected member will have 3 reserved seats.
ANP with 2 (of which one is Form 47) elected members will also have 3 reserved seats. pic.twitter.com/UnPafSPG9b
— Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra (@Jhagra) June 28, 2025
Taking away the seats reserved for women and non-Muslims from the PTI is to treat these seats (1/3 of the total seats in all houses) as Maal e Ghaneemat. I told the court so yesterday. https://t.co/8xzwGy0bJ3
— salman akram raja (@salmanAraja) June 27, 2025
SC verdicts that actively disenfranchised the public:
Wali Khan, 1975 (dissolving NAP)
Zulfiqar Bhutta, 2018 (removing PML-N’s symbol/affiliation, Senate election)
ECP v. PTI, 2024 (removing PTI’s symbol/affiliation, general election)
PML-N v. SIC, 2025 (reserved seats review)— Asad Rahim Khan (@AsadRahim) June 27, 2025
Commenting on the short order, SIC’s lead counsel Faisal Siddiqi said, “This judgment shows the dark ghost of [Justice Qazi] Faez Isa is alive and kicking. The journey from stealing the general election to stealing the reserved seats is complete.https://t.co/cvdRToLzmU
— Hasnaat Malik (@HasnaatMalik) June 28, 2025
Dissenting opinions emerged from Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, who argued that the Election Commission should have determined seat distribution after examining relevant records. Justice Jamal Mandokhail partially concurred but restricted his opinion to 39 seats. Notably, Justice Salahuddin Panhoor recused himself from proceedings, while Justices Ayesha Malik and Aqeel Abbasi had dismissed the review petitions during preliminary hearings.
PTI no more eligible for reserved seats after Constitutional Bench ruling
This verdict overturns the Supreme Court’s July 12, 2024 decision that had initially granted these seats to PTI through an 8-member majority. The review petitions were subsequently filed by PML-N and PPP in July 2024, followed by the Election Commission in August, leading to the current reversal. The judgment significantly alters Pakistan’s political arithmetic, strengthening ruling coalition parties at PTI’s expense and potentially influencing future electoral processes. Legal experts anticipate this may set important precedents regarding party eligibility and seat allocation mechanisms in Pakistan’s parliamentary system.