The order was issued on a petition filed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) — which was joined by PTI-backed independents who won the elections sans their electoral symbol — challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision to reject the party allocation of reserved women and minority seats.

In a 4-1 verdict earlier this week, the electoral watchdog ruled that the SIC was not entitled to claim quota for reserved seats “due to having noncurable legal defects and violation of a mandatory provision of submission of party list for reserved seats which is the requirement of the law.”

The commission had also decided to distribute the seats among other parliamentary parties, with the PML-N and the PPP becoming significant beneficiaries. Meanwhile, the PTI rejected the verdict as unconstitutional, and the party vowed to challenge it.