By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan unanimously accepted a review petition on Thursday against its 2022 judgment on the defection clause, paving the way for lawmakers to vote against party lines in parliament.
The court’s 2022 ruling, issued on May 17, had stated that votes cast by lawmakers opposed to their parliamentary party in four instances – elections of prime minister and chief minister, votes of confidence or no-confidence, constitutional amendment bills, and money bills – would not be counted, and the lawmaker could face disqualification.
Thursday’s decision overturns this, allowing lawmakers’ votes against party policy to be counted in future legislation. The five-member bench, led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, included Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Naeem Akhtar Afghan, and Aminuddin Khan.
“For reasons to be recorded later, Civil Review Petition No. 197 of 2022 is unanimously allowed and the majority order dated 17 May 2022 and detailed judgment of the majority are set aside,” the court in a short order said. “We would like to record our appreciation of the manner in which the learned counsel conducted the case, and particularly of the learned Syed Ali Zafar, who stated that his client wants to withdraw from the proceedings but was kind enough to accept to act as amicus curiae.”
The review petition was filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) in June 2022, arguing that further interpretation of Article 63-A would amount to “rewriting or reading into the Constitution.” The ruling is expected to aid the government’s plans to introduce constitutional amendments in parliament, which lawyers and opposition parties allege aim to increase executive power.
Imran Khan’s lawyer, Ali Zafar, boycotted the proceedings, saying the ruling would facilitate “horse-trading” in parliament. “The entire nation knows that this decision has been taken to pass the amendments,” Zafar added.
Former President Arif Alvi also criticized the court ruling. “I strongly condemn this,” Alvi told reporters. “What was the need for this? They just want to pass these amendments through this fake assembly…”
PMLN Parliamentary Leader Irfan Siddiqui welcomed the decision, saying it “provided relief to the Constitution, not to the government or any party.”
He criticized the original ruling, accusing Justices Bandial, Ejazul Ahsan, and Munib Akhtar of “adding an additional sentence to the Constitution.”
“The sole purpose was to replace Hamza Shehbaz with Chaudhry Parvez Elahi as chief minister,” Siddiqui said, calling judicial tyranny a significant threat.
In contrast, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja condemned the decision as a “dark day” in Pakistan’s history, violating the Constitution and people’s rights.
“Today’s decision is also a violation of Article 8; if these amendments are made after today, everything that is happening in the country will become constitutional. After this amendment, people will be picked up and put in jail and they will not be cared about for years.”
Raja warned of worrisome implications. “This decision of today will pave the way for those who bring amendments. Today is a dark hour in Pakistan. Someone will have to suffer.”
“Constitutional rights are supreme, whereas this amendment says that any fundamental right can be taken away, phone can be tapped for national security.”
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