The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday nullified the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) notification regarding the allocation of reserved seats for women and minorities in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. The ruling came in response to a petition filed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
The court issued a two-page written verdict, instructing the ECP to reallocate reserved seats after hearing all political parties and candidates within 10 days. It also ordered that no oath-taking should take place on these seats until the fresh decision is made.
Earlier, on July 2, the ECP had reinstated 74 out of 77 suspended lawmakers across various assemblies, including 25 in KP Assembly. It had also issued notifications for 21 women and 4 minority reserved seats, increasing the opposition’s strength to 52 members in the provincial assembly.
As a result, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) became the largest opposition party in KP with 19 seats, followed by PML-N with 16, and PPP with 11. Smaller numbers of seats were also restored to ANP and PTI Parliamentarians, while PTI-backed SIC was excluded from reserved seat allocations.
The original dispute arose after the ECP rejected SIC’s claim to reserved seats in March 2024, arguing that SIC had not formally merged with PTI. The Commission instead distributed those seats among other parties. The High Court’s decision now puts that allocation process on hold until a new round of hearings takes place.