Denial of reserved seats: PHC returns PTI petition for being non-maintainable

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has returned a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which challenged the alleged denial of its reserved seats in the assemblies despite having parliamentary representation.

The court cited objections raised by the Additional Registrar (Judicial), stating that the matter had already been decided by the Supreme Court of Pakistan and was no longer within the PHC’s jurisdiction.

The objection noted that the PHC’s decision of March 24, 2024, regarding the allocation of reserved seats had been upheld by the Supreme Court in a review petition decided on June 27, 2025.

As a result, the PHC deemed the petition non-maintainable and advised the petitioner to approach the relevant forum instead. The PTI had earlier sought the annulment of decisions related to the distribution of reserved seats, including those made by the Supreme Court, arguing that the party was denied an opportunity to present its stance.

PTI MNA Ali Asghar filed the petition, contending that the party was neither heard nor made a party in the original proceedings. He alleged that the reserved seats were distributed among other political parties without any notice being issued to PTI.

The petitioner claimed that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had deliberately and fraudulently excluded PTI from the reserved seats allocation process. He asserted that the basis for the court rulings that PTI is not a parliamentary party was incorrect. He urged the court to declare PTI’s claim to the reserved seats legitimate and to issue a notification recognizing him as an MNA representing PTI.

The petition named the successful candidates and the ECP as respondents, stating that seats were allocated to parties that were not entitled to them, while PTI was unjustly sidelined. It challenged the PHC rulings of March 13 and 14, 2024, as well as the Supreme Court verdict of June 27, 2025.

The petitioner maintained that PTI was the most popular political party in the country and had not merged with any other party following the general elections. Respondents in the case included the ECP, Sunni Ittehad Council, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Peoples Party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, Jamaat-e-Islami, Awami National Party, and other political entities.