ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has restored a total of 74 reserved seats in the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies in line with the Supreme Court’s recent judgment.
According to a notification issued by the ECP, the reinstated seats include 19 in the National Assembly, 25 in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, 27 in the Punjab Assembly, and 3 in the Sindh Assembly.
The ECP said the move comes in compliance with the Supreme Court’s verdict issued on June 27, 2025. Following the decision, the commission has also withdrawn its earlier notifications dated July 24 and July 29, 2024, which had declared the return of PTI-backed members on these seats.
With this development, all notifications regarding the return of successful PTI candidates on reserved seats have been declared void. The ECP clarified that it took this step to implement the Supreme Court’s ruling in letter and spirit.
On June 27, 2025, the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench dismissed petitions filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the reserved seats case, ruling that the party was not eligible to claim these seats in either the national or provincial assemblies.
The Supreme Court’s bench headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan announced the verdict. Justice Salahuddin Panhwar had earlier recused himself, while Justices Ayesha A. Malik and Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi had already withdrawn from the case, reducing the active bench members to 10.
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Seven judges, including Justices Aminuddin Khan, Musarrat Hilali, Naeem Akhter Afghan, Shahid Bilal Hassan, Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, Aamer Farooq and Ali Baqar Najafi, ruled in favour of dismissing PTI’s petitions. The three judges who disagreed were Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, and Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi.
The ruling effectively upheld the Peshawar High Court’s March 2024 decision and overturned the Supreme Court’s own previous ruling from July 2024. As a result, PTI lost claim to 39 reserved seats.
The court also directed the ECP to conduct a fresh review of all 80 returned candidates’ nomination and declaration papers to determine party affiliation and allocation of reserved seats according to the law. The commission has been given 15 days from the date of the order to implement the instructions.
