Islamabad : March 8, 2024: The Sunni Ittehad Counsel (SIC) on Friday protested against oath-taking of the beneficiaries of its reserved seats and demanded in the national assembly proceeding not to dishonour the court orders in this case . SIC leaders , Omar Ayub Khan and Barrister Gohar Khan raised the issue in their speeches in the national assembly and demanded that the oath-taking of beneficiaries of SIC reserved seats was contempt of the court . Attorney General of Pakistan however , claimed that no orders from PHC has been received for not taking oath from any beneficiary of SIC. A larger bench of Peshawar High Court ( PHC) has extended stay barring oath-taking of the beneficiaries of reserved seats distributed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) among the ruling alliance till Match 13 . A division bench of PHC comprising Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Shakeel Ahmad had taken – up a petition filed by PTI-SIC alliance challenging the commission’s orders and barred the beneficiaries from taking oath as members of the lower house of the parliament till Thursday (today). The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had denied to allot reserves and minority seats to PTI as its members contested the February 8 elections as independents and later distributed these seats among the ruling alliance. The Sunni Ittehad Counsel (SIC) had challenged ECP ‘s decision in PHC. The PHC division bench heard the case on Wednesday and barred the members allowed seats of PTI from taking oath till Thursday. The court also issued notices to ECP for Thursday (Today). Meanwhile , the court formed a larger bench of five judges to hear the case on Thursday. PHC ‘s decision in the case can be of extra ordinary significance . PTI-SIC has also challenged ECP’s decision of not allotting women and minority seats to its members in the Lahore High Court (LHC). Pakistan Tehreek- e Insaf (PTI) founding chief , Imran Khan , has vehemently criticised ECP ‘s decision of denying his party women and minority seats in his message given from Adiala jail and termed it as a negation of democracy. PHC’s division bench had raised many questions on the issue in hand during hearing on Wednesday and sought opinion from the legal experts on these . The bench questioned if a high court has jurisdiction of hearing the petition challenging allotment of women and minority seats to the opponents ?.
