The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) dismissed an appeal filed by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) on Thursday regarding a dispute over a reserved seat. The ruling upheld the decision made by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
A two-member bench, consisting of Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Aamer Farooq, heard the case. During the proceedings, counsel for JUI-F informed the court that the party had submitted four names for reserved seats. The lawyer argued that the ECP was not permitted to make changes to the list submitted by a political party for such seats. The counsel described the situation as "This is a unique case in Pakistan's history," and maintained that while JUI-F stated Sadaf Ihsan was not its candidate, the party was being told otherwise. The counsel further argued that if a party had submitted an incorrect list, the ECP should have requested corrections.
The JUI-F had previously challenged the election of Sadaf, a Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly member elected on a reserved seat for women, in the Supreme Court. Sadaf had previously served as a provincial assembly member for the JUI. The party filed a petition in the apex court against a Peshawar High Court (PHC) decision concerning Sadaf's election, seeking to suspend the notification of her as a member of the K-P Assembly.
The JUI-F adopted the position that Sadaf's name was not on the priority list submitted by the party to the ECP. The party stated that Yasmeen did not show interest in the seat and alleged that Sadaf obtained Yasmeen’s seat with the complicity of some party members. According to the party, when the ECP began an inquiry into the matter, Sadaf approached the PHC, which subsequently approved her writ and ordered the issuance of a notification for her as a member of the assembly.
