'Dark day': PTI rejects SC's reserved seats verdict, announces protest

• Barrister Gohar says deeply disappointed by verdict.
• Announces protest inside and outside parliament.
• “Reserved seats rightfully belonged to PTI.”

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday rejected the Supreme Court’s verdict on reserved seats, calling the ruling “unjust and a misinterpretation of the Constitution.”

In a major setback for the PTI, the SC's Constitutional Bench accepted review petitions and ruled that the Imran Khan-founded party was not entitled to seats reserved for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies.

The verdict was announced by a 10-member bench headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan.

Speaking to Geo News following the ruling, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan expressed disappointment over the top court’s ruling and said: “We are deeply disappointed… the decision is unfair to PTI, and the Constitution has been wrongly interpreted.”

“The reserved seats rightfully belonged to PTI,” said the PTI chairman.

Barrister Gohar maintained that after today’s SC review decision on reserved seats, the party has no further legal recourse. “We cannot take this matter to any other court after this review judgment,” he added.

However, the PTI's top leader said that his party will raise the issue inside and outside the parliament. 

Meanwhile, in an official statement following the apex court’s verdict, PTI termed the verdict as the “darkest day in the country’s constitutional history.”

The party recalled that the apex had previously recognised PTI’s constitutional right to the reserved seats for women and minorities. “That was a time when the court announced a decision by the Constitution,” PTI chairman added.

Reacting to the verdict, Senator Hamid Khan said the ruling was “not based on justice” and alleged that the bench lacked the authority to decide the matter. 

The party further noted that the case had remained under judicial consideration for several months. “PTI knocked on every legal door, presented every argument, and raised every constitutional point," read the statement.