Justice Bandial’s take on Article 63A seems to absolutely disallow dissent from party line.
By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan continued to break fresh ground in the interpretation of Article 63A of the Constitution Tuesday when it said deviation from party policy is not a petty issue but a matter of morality.
Remarks to this effect came from the country’s highest constitutional court in the hearing of an appeal against the decision of the Election Commission (EC) to de-seat the dissident members of PTI.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial is hearing the appeal, filed by Zahara Batool, a member of the Punjab Assembly de-seated for dissenting with former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The constitution of Pakistan does not bar voting against party policy, called floor crossing in the country’s parliamentary parlance, and laws enacted against it have been largely frowned upon. What is more, absolutely banning dissent would erode the very foundation of vote of no confidence and indeed of democracy.
But the former Punjab MPA took a different approach in her appeal, moved through counsel Abdul Shakoor Paracha. the former Punjab MPA requested the apex court to set aside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decision that declared her and other members defectors under Article 63-A of the Constitution.
At the outset of the hearing, the appellant’s counsel pleaded that PTI had not issued any directions regarding the election of chief minister in the Punjab Assembly; and that PTI’s chief ministerial candidate Pervez Elahi had boycotted the session.
During the hearing, Chief Justice Omar Ata Bandial remarked that the Supreme Court had already declared deviation in the interpretation of Article 63A as a cancer. It is not a petty issue but a matter of human conscience, the top justice said.
Court ordered the dissident’s counsel to be prepared on the point of voting against the party policy and adjourned the hearing of the case indefinitely.
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