Rejects majority decision on 41 reserved seats and maintains that decision must be reviewed
Judge Jamal Khan Mandokhail. PHOTO: FILE
Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail of the now-defunct Supreme Court reaffirmed his ruling on 39 reserved seats, but maintained that the majority decision, which denied 41 more seats to Sunni candidates in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Ittehad Council, could not stand.
In his 12-page supplementary note, Justice Mandokhail said the decision needed to be reviewed, calling the majority’s intervention an “overreach of authority.” He said the court did not have the authority to declare the 41 candidates independent, saying the decision was not in accordance with the Constitution or the facts.
Read: PTI loses reserved seats as SC overturns July 12 decision
The seats in question are those reserved for minorities and women in the national and provincial assemblies. The seat affair saw several twists and turns after internal conflicts in the PTI disrupted party nominations in late 2023. PTI candidates ran as independents in the February 2024 general elections, 80 of whom later joined the SIC.
The Election Commission of Pakistan initially denied PTI-backed independent candidates access to seats, arguing that only such candidates can occupy reserved seats within a party if they hold its symbol. The main legal problem was that PTI candidates running as independents or within the SIC could not claim the reserved PTI seats.
On July 12, 2024, a 13-judge bench of the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the PTI-backed SIC candidates, awarding them the disputed reserved seats. However, the decision was criticized and review petitions were filed in May 2025 by the ruling PML-N and PPP parties. The Constitutional Bench heard these petitions in June 2025, during which Justice Mandokhail partially disagreed with the majority.
Learn more: PTI loses court battle over reserved seats
In June this year, the Supreme Court overturned the July 12, 2024 judgment, declaring it null and void, leading to the PTI losing its reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies to the government coalition. He added that the provision of Article 191A of the Constitution will take precedence over the SCRs of 1980; therefore, Rule 8 of Order XXVI cannot be applied in this case.
In his note, Justice Mandokhail clarified that the court cannot change a candidate’s political affiliation and reiterated that the 41 contested seats are not currently under active judicial review. He also said that the judgment in question, as it relates to the 41 candidates, exceeds the authority granted to the Supreme Court under Article 187 of the Constitution.
Terming the judgment – which declared the 41 candidates independent – an error of Constitution, law and fact, Justice Mandokhail said the judgment under review cannot be sustained. He referred to the matter amid the current political turmoil for the PTI. The party’s founder, Imran Khan, remains incarcerated, while his sisters were taken into custody after a 10-hour sit-in outside Adiala prison on Tuesday evening.
