PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court(PHC) stopped the Speaker National Assembly from administering oaths from reserved seat members.

Peshawar High Court Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Shakeel Ahmed heard the petition filed against the Election Commission’s decision on the allocation of reserved seats.

The court issued a restraining order till tomorrow,  preventing the elected members from taking oath on reserved seats.

The Peshawar High Court ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan to submit the answer by tomorrow and asked whether the court can be approached for reserved seats.

The court has issued notices to the Attorney General and Advocate General for judicial assistance and has sent the case to the Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court for the formation of a larger bench.

It may be remembered that the Election Commission of Pakistan had issued a decision by 1-4 while rejecting the request of the Sunni Ittehad Council for specific seats, while Member Punjab Babar Hasan Bharwana wrote a dissenting note.

The  ECP had rejected the request of the Sunni Ittehad Council for specific seats and declared that the SIC does not deserve the quota of seats reserved for women and minorities.

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Due to the decision of the ECP, the Sunni Ittehad Council had lost 77 seats in the National and Provincial Assembly, against which the Sunni Ittehad Council had approached the court.