ISLAMABAD – Supreme Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said on Thursday it would be “insulting” to discard a lawmaker’s vote during the no-confidence motion against the prime minister and that a member of the National Assembly (MNA) could not be barred from voting.
A larger bench of the Supreme Court heard the presidential reference, which sought interpretation of Article 63-A of the Constitution that deals with disqualification of parliamentarians over defection.
The five-member larger bench presided over by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial had members such as Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail.
During the hearing, the chief justice said the apex court under the advisory jurisdiction could not fill in the blanks as could be done by the parliament.
Justice Mandokhail referred to Articles 55 and 95, which mentioned an MNA’s right to vote.
Justice Miankhel asked Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan whether he wanted to make the party head a king.
Another member of the apex bench, Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan, asked the AGP about the scope of the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP ) inquiry under Article 63 of the Constitution
Justice Ahsan said the ECP would examine procedural lapses during the inquiry and noted that the Constitution does not justify defection under Article 63-A of the Constitution.
The PTI, PML-N, JUI-F and the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) submitted written replies in this case on Thursday.
