Overview
- In a detailed note, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail partially accepted challenges to the majority verdict by reaffirming his earlier position on 39 reserved seats.
- He declared the majority’s treatment of 41 candidates as independents unconstitutional, saying no court can alter a candidate’s declared political affiliation or decide issues not before it.
- Citing Article 187, he wrote that the Supreme Court’s powers are not unlimited and called the earlier 15-day window for candidates to join another party an error in law and fact.
- The July 12, 2024 judgment that reclassified 41 candidates was later set aside in June 2025, a reversal that cost PTI-backed SIC claimants reserved seats and benefited the ruling coalition.
- Mandokhail’s note constitutes a judicial dissent and clarification rather than an order changing seat allocations, leaving the 41-seat matter for review and further adjudication.