ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday reaffirmed that the amendment made by parliament to the Elections Act holds no retrospective effect and cannot reverse the top court’s ruling on the reserved seats case.
The second clarification comes after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) separately approached the apex court last month, seeking a clarification on its order to grant reserved seats to the Imran Khan-founded party.
The top court declared on July 12 that the embattled PTI was eligible for seats reserved for women and minorities. However, the government passed an amendment to the Election Act, 2017, forcing the ECP to seek clarification from the top court.
In response, the apex court’s judges, who issued the order, stressed that the request was “misconceived” and ordered the poll organising authority to follow through on the verdict.
Then, the court on September 23 issued a detailed verdict declaring the PTI a parliamentary party, stating that 39 of the 80 MNAs are affiliated with the PTI, while the remaining 41 have the chance to resubmit their party affiliations.
However, despite the court’s clarification and the detailed verdict, the ECP has yet to allot reserved seats to the PTI.
This is a developing story and being updated with more details.
