5-member larger SC bench to hear presidential reference on senate polls via open ballot

ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court has constituted a five-member larger bench to hear a presidential reference seeking the court’s opinion on holding the senate election via open ballot.

The larger bench consists of Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan, and Justice Yahya Afridi. Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan will represent President Dr Arif Alvi. The hearing will be held from Monday.

The federal government had promulgated a presidential ordinance on Saturday to amend the Election Act 2017 so senate elections can be held through open ballot. However, the ordinance requires the SC’s advisory opinion on whether secret balloting rules mentioned in Article 226 includes senate elections.

Elections(Amendment) ordinance 2021 pic.twitter.com/APKvBoiivz

— Senator Shibli Faraz (@shiblifaraz) February 6, 2021

Senator Shibli Faraz tweeted a picture of the Elections (Amendment) Ordinance 2021.

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