SIC, PTI Urge Supreme Court to Issue Reserved Seats Verdict with Signatures of All 12 Judges

ISLAMABAD: The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), an ally of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), on Monday submitted a formal plea to the Supreme Court, requesting that the written verdict in the reserved seats case be issued with the signatures of all 12 judges of the constitutional bench.

The appeal follows the Supreme Court’s recent 7-5 majority decision that denied PTI the right to reserved seats for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies. The verdict, delivered on June 27 by a 10-member bench led by Justice Aminuddin Khan, overturned a previous ruling and restored the Peshawar High Court’s judgment against the SIC.

SIC, through a petition filed by Barrister Hamid Khan, emphasized that the May 6 SC order had stated all dissenting and concurring opinions would be included in the final judgment. However, the short order issued lacked the signatures of Justices Ayesha Malik and Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, both of whom had rejected the review petitions at the initial stage.

The SIC contended that for the ruling to carry full constitutional weight and public confidence, it must include the signatures of all 12 participating judges—especially after Justice Salahuddin Panhwar recused himself, reducing the bench from 13 to 12 members.

Separately, PTI also addressed a letter to the SC registrar, requesting the issuance of the complete and signed verdict. PTI lawyer Salman Akram Raja stressed that with Justice Panhwar’s recusal, a 12-signature order had become necessary. He further requested certified copies of all individual opinions, including dissenting notes by Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi, and Hasan Azhar Rizvi.

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Both SIC and PTI maintain that transparency and constitutional clarity demand that the full bench’s decision—signed by all participating justices—be made public.