Islamabad, November 19, 2025: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued the detailed opinion of Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail in the reserved seats case, in which he partially accepted the petitions challenging the majority judgment.
In his 12-page decision, Justice Mandokhail reaffirmed his earlier stance regarding the 39 reserved seats, upholding the conclusions he had originally reached on the matter.
However, he rejected the majority’s ruling concerning the remaining 41 seats, declaring that portion of the verdict “incorrect” and beyond the court’s mandate. Justice Mandokhail noted that the majority judgment—authored by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah—had effectively converted 41 candidates into independents, a step he said the court was not empowered to take.
He wrote that the decision related to these 41 candidates did not conform with the Constitution or the factual record, stressing that the Supreme Court “cannot alter the political affiliation of any candidate.” He added that the question of these 41 candidates was not before the court and therefore the majority’s intervention amounted to “exceeding its jurisdiction.”
It may be recalled that the July 12, 2024 majority judgment had declared the 41 candidates independent and granted them additional time to decide which political party they wished to join.
The release of Justice Mandokhail’s separate opinion adds a new layer of judicial scrutiny to one of the year’s most consequential electoral rulings, which had reshaped the allocation of reserved seats in Parliament.
