JUI-F moves SC against election of KP assembly member on reserved seat

ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) on Wednesday challenged the election of Sadaf Ehsan on reserved seats for women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in the Supreme Court.

JUI-F filed a petition through advocate Kamran Murtaza under Article 185(3) of the Constitution seeking leave to appeal against the Peshawar High Court’s decision of April 2, 2024 regarding the election of Sadaf Ehsan.

It was contended in the petition that Sadaf Ehsan’s name was not in the priority list submitted by JUI-F, adding that in fact, Sadaf Yasmin’s name was given in the priority list submitted by the party to the Election Commission for seats reserved for women but Sadaf Yasmin did not show interest in contesting the election.

The JUI submitted that Sadaf Ehsan with the probable collusion of someone within JUI Pakistan, who knew that Sadaf Yasmin was not pursuing her nomination, decided to portray herself as Sadaf Yasmin i-e the nominee of JUI-F.

It was further submitted that when the Election Commission started an inquiry into the matter, Sadaf Ehsan approached the High Court.

The JUI-F contended it is purely the prerogative of political parties to decide the candidates for the reserved seats of women in order of priority under Article 51(e) of the Constitution, section 104 of the Elections Act, 2017 and Chapter VI of the Elections Rules 2017 and for Election Commission of Pakistan to merely allocate reserved seats, in proportion of general seats won, between the contesting candidates.

The JUI-P prayed the apex court to grant leave to appeal against the judgment passed by Peshawar High Court dated April 2, 2024 in the interest of justice.