‘N’ plea on reserved seats verdict deferred till after vacations

ISLAMABAD: The three-judge committee, constituted under the SC Practice and Procedure Act 2023 to decide which bench will hear which case, on Thursday deferred a proposal to fix PML-N’s petition against the July 12 short order in the reserved seat case.

Instead, the committee consisting of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, senior puisine judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Munib Akhtar suggested fixing the review petition after a period of two months, following the court’s annual vacations.

Moreover, the committee was of the view that the review petition should be heard by the same 13-judge full court bench that decided the matter in the first place.

Both Justice Shah and Justice Akhtar may not be available during the summer vacations.

On July 12, a 13-judge full bench of the apex court had declared that the opposition PTI was eligible to receive reserved seats for women and non-Muslims in the national and provincial assemblies.

In its petition, PML-N had prayed that the Supreme Court, instead of interpreting the Constitution, had entered the domain of legislation.

Moved through Barrister Haris Azmat, the ruling PML-N’s plea requests the Supreme Court to not only recall the judgement by reviewing the same, but also suspend its operation until pendency of the present matter.

The review petition maintained that the July 12 short order was against the settled principles of interpretation of the Constitution.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2024