Presidential reference on Article 63-A: Pakistan SC to announce verdict today

Pakistan's Supreme Court will announce its decision on a presidential reference seeking its interpretation of Article 63-A of the Constitution, which is related to the disqualification of lawmakers over defection, on Tuesday.

Pakistan's Supreme Court will announce its decision on a presidential reference seeking its interpretation of Article 63-A of the Constitution, which is related to the disqualification of lawmakers over defection, on Tuesday. A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, completed proceedings of the case today. The apex court is expected to announce its verdict at 5:30 pm today, according to Dawn newspaper.

According to the publication, the first hearing of the case took place on March 21 by a two-member bench, after which Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Bandial constituted a larger bench to hear the matter. CJP's decision came after news emerged that at least a dozen members of the then ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who were staying at Islamabad's Sindh House, came out in open defiance of their party on the issue of the no-confidence motion submitted by the joint opposition against then-Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The PTI government had approached the Supreme Court in a bid to stop its dissenting lawmakers from voting against Imran Khan and had sought a lifetime disqualification for those who attempted to deviate from the party's direction. Imran Khan has become the first Prime Minister of Pakistan to lose a no-trust vote in the National Assembly.

Despite several attempts to block the no-confidence motion here in the National Assembly, the voting had taken place in April in which as many as 174 members voted in favour of the motion in the 342-member House while members of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were absent. (ANI)

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