The Supreme Court has rejected all three objections of the Sunni Ittehad Council to the bench in the reserved seats case, and allowed the hearing to be broadcast live.
The 11-member constitutional bench of the Supreme Court gave a unanimous verdict on various petitions of the Sunni Ittehad Council in the reserved seats case. The court rejected the objections to the constitution of the bench and gave a brief verdict, with a detailed order to be issued later.
The Supreme Court has allowed the hearing of the reserved seats case to be broadcast live, and ordered the IT department to make arrangements for it. The hearing on review petitions of the reserved seats has been adjourned till Monday.
During the hearing, Makhdoom Ali Khan, the lawyer for the women affected by the July verdict, told the court that the rules do not apply in the presence of Article 191-A and the Practice and Procedure Act. The rules of 1980 are not applicable to the extent of hearing of the review petitions. The old bench used to hear the review petitions under the rules. After the 26th Amendment, the cases of constitutional interpretation will now be reviewed by the constitutional bench.
Makhdoom Ali Khan said that an objection has been raised regarding the number of judges on the bench. "In my opinion, it is not 11, but a 13-member bench. Out of the 13-member bench, a majority of seven judges will decide the review plea," he argued.
A petition was filed regarding the live broadcast of the case. "In my opinion, this court will decide whether there will be live broadcasts or not. If the court decides to broadcast live, there is no objection," he added.
Lawyer Makhdoom Ali Khan said that the second request was to postpone the case until the decision on the 26th Amendment. "It is the court's prerogative to decide which case to take up and when, not someone's wish. Suppose the court grants this request and postpones the hearing, the constitutional bench will not be able to hear any other request until the decision on the 26th Amendment. Tomorrow, the petitioners of other cases will also express the same wish."
