Rejects the majority ruling on 41 reserved seats and maintains that the decision must be reviewed
Judge Jamal Khan Mandokhail. PHOTO: ARCHIVE
Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail of the now-defunct Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court reaffirmed his decision on 39 reserved seats, but held that the majority ruling, which denied another 41 seats to Sunni Ittehad Council candidates backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, cannot be tabled.
In his 12-page additional note, Justice Mandokhail said the ruling must be reviewed and called the majority’s intervention an “excess of authority.” He claimed the court had no authority to declare the 41 candidates independent, saying the decision does not align with the Constitution or the facts.
Read: PTI loses reserved seats as SC overturns July 12 ruling
The seats in question are those reserved for minorities and women in the national and provincial assemblies. The seat-related case has seen several twists and turns after internal PTI disputes disrupted party nominations in late 2023. PTI candidates contested as independents in the February 2024 general elections, 80 of whom later joined the SIC.
The Election Commission of Pakistan initially denied seats to independent candidates backed by the PTI, arguing that only those candidates can occupy seats reserved under a party if they display its symbol. The central legal issue was that PTI candidates running as independents or as part of 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 ruling faced criticism and in May 2025 the ruling PML-N and the PPP filed review petitions. The Constitutional Court heard these petitions in June 2025, during which Judge Mandokhail partially dissented from the majority.
Read more: PTI loses court battle over reserved seats
In June this year, the Supreme Court annulled the judgment of July 12, 2024, declaring it void, leading to the PTI losing its reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies in favor of the governing coalition. He added that the provisions of Article 191A of the Constitution will take priority over the SCR of 1980; therefore, Rule 8 of Order XXVI cannot be applied in the present case.
In his note, Justice Mandokhail clarified that the court cannot change a candidate’s political affiliation and reaffirmed that the 41 contested seats are not currently under active judicial consideration. He also said that the revised ruling, as it concerns the 41 candidates, exceeds the powers granted to the Supreme Court by Article 187 of the Constitution.
Terming the judgment, which declared the 41 candidates independent, an error of Constitution, law and fact, Justice Mandokhail stated that the judgment under review cannot stand. He made reference to the case amid the current political agitation of the PTI. Party founder Imran Khan remains jailed, while his sisters were detained by police after a 10-hour sit-in outside Adiala Jail on Tuesday night.
