In a latest judicial development, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has declared its May 17, 2022 verdict to Article 63-A as null and void and has given a new legal interpretation to the clause.
The decision will be a major relief to the government which is already making efforts for a constitutional amendment by striving to achieve two-thirds majority in the Parliament. The verdict given on Article 63-A today will now allow the votes of defecting lawmakers to be counted.
🚨🚨#BREAKING: As per “everybody” expectation, 5 member likeminded larger bench led by CJP #JusticeQaziFaezIsa allows review of 63A judgment and discards earlier ruling authored by #JusticeMunibAkhtar. pic.twitter.com/wRfhjvK2RH
— Asad Ali Toor (@AsadAToor) October 3, 2024
However, it is pertinent to mention here that the ruling has been issued by a five-member bench of the Supreme Court comprising of Justice Aminuddin, Justice Jamal Mandokhel, Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Naeem Afghan, headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Qazi Faiz Esa.
It should be noted that back in 2022, the then Chief Justice, Umar Ata Bandial has issued a ruling on the basis of a 3-2 ruling on Article 63-A declaring that the votes cast by the defecting lawmakers in the Parliament will be declared as invalid and will not be counted. However, today, the Supreme court of Pakistan, has revoked this decision and has reversed the previous decision on Article 63-A by allowing defecting lawmakers votes to be counted.
آرٹیکل 63 اے کے فیصلے کیخلاف اپیل منظور، چیف جسٹس قاضی فائز عیسیٰ نے فیصلہ سنا دیا،اپیل متفقہ طور پر منظور کی جاتی ہے، تفصیلی فیصلہ بعد میں دیاجائےگا، چیف جسٹس قاضی فائز عیسیٰ، فیصلہ 5/0 سے دیا گیا
— Naya Pakistan (@Naya__Pakistan_) October 3, 2024
The Supreme Court stated that the detailed judgement on this case would be issued at a later date. Not to mention, the four elements on which the votes of the defecting lawmakers in the Parliament will now be counted, involves:
- Election of Prime Minister and Chief Minister
- Vote of confidence or no-confidence
- A Constitution Amendment Bill
- A Money Bill
However, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) has decided to not partake in the ongoing proceedings as the PTI lawyer, Ali Zafar, has stated that the party is stepping aside from this judicial process. The PTI lawyer, Ali Zafar, further stated that the decision could make it further easy for the government to make the potential constitutional amendments which it is planning to do.
What is Article 63-A & it’s Penalty?
According to the Constitution of Pakistan, “Article 63A of the Constitution imposes a condition that if a member of a Parliamentary Party composed of a single political party in the House, votes or abstains from voting in the House contrary to any direction issued by the Parliamentary Party to which he belongs, in relation to instances mentioned therein, he may be declared in writing by the Party Head to have defected from the political party and upon confirmation of the declaration by the Election Commission of Pakistan and exhausting the remedy of appeal before this Court, the member concerned shall cease to be a member of the House and his seat shall become vacant.
Except for the consequence of deseating of the member, provided by the said Article, there is no bar in the Constitution on a member to vote against the parliamentary party’s directions.”
