A 13-judge full court of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, pronounced the majority verdict with an 8-5 vote, declaring the ECP’s allocation of reserved seats to the ruling coalition unconstitutional.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan were part of the SC’s 13-judge full court.

Also read: Supreme Court reserves verdict in SIC reserved seats case

SC’s senior judge Justice Mansoor Ali Shah read the 8-5 majority verdict, nullifying the PHC and ECP’s verdicts.

The court said the PTI was and remains a political party, instructing the PTI to submit a list of its candidates for reserved seats within 15 days.

The apex court on Tuesday (July 9) reserved the verdict after conducting nine hearings on the SIC’s appeals after all parties including the federal government and the ECP presented their arguments against the SIC’s plea.

Strict security arrangements were made on the routes leading to the Supreme Court. The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) held a large protest outside the apex court before the verdict was pronounced.

On the other hand, while reacting to the Supreme Court’s verdict of declaring Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) eligible for reserved seats, Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said there is no threat to the government from the apex court’s verdict, adding: “We still have 209 members in the assembly.”

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, he said he cannot say anything about the government’s review petition, adding he has not yet seen the full verdict on reserved seats.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah said the government accepts the verdict of the Supreme Court, adding the government’s legal team is reviewing the decision.

He added the PTI was given the relief it did not ask for, adding the government will decide whether to appeal against the SC verdict or not.