Government to ask SC to set up full court bench to hear Article 63-A related cases

The coalition government decided to file a request with the Supreme Court (SC) for the formation of a full court bench to hear matters concerning the interpretation of Article 63-A of the Constitution, regarding the status of defective legislators, according to a statement issued Sunday by Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb.

The issue was brought to light on Friday when the Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Assembly, Dost Mohammad Mazari, decided not to count the votes of PML-Q in the election of the Chief Minister of Punjab considering them contrary to the directives of the party leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and thus awarding to Hamza Shehbaz the victory over the leader of the PML-Q Chaudhry Parvez Elahi.

Mazari’s ruling was challenged by Elahi in an application filed and at Saturday’s hearing at the Lahore Registry, the Supreme Court allowed Hamza to stay as the “trustee” Chief Minister of Punjab until Monday.

Pakistan Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial also noted that, at first glance, the deputy speaker’s decision was contrary to the Supreme Court’s verdict in section 63-A reference.

As the Saturday proceedings came to an end, PML-N began publicly calling for a full bench and challenged the “one-sided” character of the decision of a “particular bench” of the Superior Court.

The government alliance has now decided to formally propose the SC in this respect, said the Minister of Information today.

Government alliance leaders will also be speaking at a news conference at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, (today).

The leaders will then take their lawyers to the top of the court to ask for a full bench that jointly hears matters related to the election of the Chief Minister of Punjab, the Supreme Court Bar Association’s (SCBA) review petition of the SC’s opinion on Article 63-A and other related petitions.

All PDM parties will go to SC for filing a petition.

“Lawyers from all sides will argue before the Supreme Court about Article 63-A of the Constitution,” the statement said.

The ruling alliance issued a statement requesting that the Chief Justice of Pakistan form a full court to hear the petition against the election of the chief minister of Punjab calling it “a significant national, political and constitutional issue”.

The declaration stated that the Constitution established a clear line between the legislative power, the judicial power, and the administration, which an “arrogant, unconstitutional and fascist” person was trying to erase.

The allied parties said that they would not compromise on the constitution.