The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday declared null and void the 2024 notifications issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) regarding reserved seats for women and minorities in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly. A bench comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Dr. Khurshid Iqbal issued a brief written order after hearing the case. The court also deemed unconstitutional the ECP’s deadline of February 22, 2024, for independent candidates to join a political party.
The court has directed the ECP to rehear all relevant political parties and reallocate the seats within 10 days. It further ordered that, until a new decision is reached, the two women MPAs from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) should not be de-notified.
This development follows the electoral body’s action last week, when it reinstated 21 reserved seats for women in the KP Assembly. This reinstatement was a consequence of the Supreme Court’s verdict, which declared the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ineligible for reserved seats. Of these 21 seats, eight were allocated to JUI-F, six to PML-N, and five to PPP. One seat each was also allotted to the PTI Parliamentarians (PTI-P) and the Awami National Party (ANP).
Concurrently, four reserved seats for minorities in the KP Assembly were restored. Two of these were handed over to the JUI-F, while the PML-N and PPP each received one. The ECP also reinstated five reserved seats for women in the National Assembly from KP and announced a revised schedule for Senate elections in the province, setting July 21 as the new polling date.
During the PHC hearing, Barristers Amir Javed and Saqib Raza represented the PML-N. Special Secretary Law for ECP Muhammad Arshad and Mohsin Kamran, along with counsels for JUI-F’s minority MPA Gurjal Singh, appeared before the court.
Barrister Javed informed the court that the PML-N had secured seven seats in the KP Assembly, but the ECP had allocated 10 reserved seats to JUI-F, which also had seven general seats, while PML-N was given only eight reserved seats. He argued that the ECP allotted seats based on six PML-N general seats, disregarding the seventh seat won by an independent candidate who joined the party within three days – a move he claimed was against fair seat distribution. Barrister Javed requested the court to annul the ECP notifications and restrain the oath-taking of the MPAs on reserved seats until the final decision.
The JUI-F’s counsel referred to a Supreme Court judgment, arguing that the 2024 ECP notification on women’s seats had not been challenged in a separate petition. Justice Arshad Ali questioned the ECP on its authority to allocate reserved seats when the process was not yet finalized. The special secretary for law explained that the assembly session must be held within 21 days after elections. Justice Arshad found the logic of giving five seats based on the party position as of February 22 and the remainder in March illogical and contradictory.
The ECP counsel stated that the PML-N had already filed a petition on July 1, which had been decided and disposed of. However, Barrister Javed demanded that if JUI-F received 10 reserved seats for seven general seats, then PML-N should receive the same – implying both parties should be allotted nine reserved seats. He demanded that the fourth minority seat be decided through a draw since both parties had equal representation.
The court observed that the ECP’s February 22 notification violated Article 106 of the Constitution, the Election Act 2017, and the Election Rules. It also ordered a review and revision of the March 4, 2024, notification under which 20 women’s reserved seats were notified. Furthermore, the court annulled the March 26, 2024, notification under which Gurjal Singh was allocated a minority seat.
Meanwhile, the JUI-F has announced fielding its provincial secretary general, Maulana Attaul Haq Dervesh, for contesting Senate elections on the general category, and Dilawar Khan on the technocrat seat. This decision was made during a session of the party’s provincial executive council held on Tuesday, chaired by its provincial president, Senator Maulana Attaur Rehman. The meeting discussed the upcoming Senate elections, organizational matters, and conferences planned for central and southern districts.
