In a recent ruling by the Supreme Court regarding the allocation of reserved seats, Justice Yahya Afridi issued a separate note referring the matter of independent candidates joining the Sunni Ittehad Council to the election commission.
Justice Afridi emphasized that every candidate of the National and provincial assemblies who submitted an affidavit and confirmation certificate of affiliation with the PTI will be considered a PTI candidate. Consequently, seats reserved for women and non-Muslims will be allocated to the PTI in the same ratio.
Justice Afridi directed the election commission to allot seats for women and non-Muslims to the parties in the National and provincial Assemblies based on this decision.
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He expressed deep concern over the actions and omissions of the election commission, although these actions were not challenged in the appeals before the court.
In a contrasting perspective, Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan disagreed with the majority decision and expressed their dissent in separate notes.
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Justice Khan upheld the decision of the Peshawar High Court, dismissing appeals, petitions, and miscellaneous applications. Justice Naeem Akhtar, aligning with Justice Aminuddin Khan, also supported the Peshawar High Court's decision, dismissing all miscellaneous petitions.
The Supreme Court's decision, marked by differing opinions among the justices, now tasks the Election Commission with implementing the allocation of reserved seats as directed, ensuring that PTI receives its proportional share of seats for women and non-Muslims based on the confirmed affiliations.
