SC Will Announce Verdict On Presidential Reference On Monday

(@fidahassanain)

SC will announce verdict on Presidential reference on Monday

The top court reserved verdict on Presidential reference seeking opinion to hold Presidential reference through open balloting.

ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-Feb 27, 2021) The Supreme Court would announce its verdict on Presidential reference seeking opinion to hold Senate election through open balloting on Monday.

The top court had reserved the verdict after hearing arguments of both sides including the lawyers’ bodies on Thursday. The SC bench was led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed. The Supreme Court would hand over its opinion to President Arif Alvi.

During the proceedings, Advocate Khurram Chughtai, the counsel who was representing Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA), raised this question during hearing of Presidential reference to seek Supreme Court’s opinion about holding Senate elections through open vote.

The counsel contended that the the Federal government did not have the authority to seek the court's opinion.

“The ministers enjoy special status on the premises of the parliament or in the legislative assemblies. And outside the parliament, they are like other ordinary citizens,” said the counsel.

“The court used to conduct hearings to get government’s views but not hearing us,” he further said.

At this, the CJP asked Advocate Chughtai to answer the raised questions. Mr. Chughtai said that many of the ministers were part of the constitutional reforms committee and President Alvi himself was member of that committee.

Justice Ahsan said the election commission was in deep slumber and was not ready to wake up , observing that the ECP was responsible to hold elections and to end corruption.

“ We asked again and again what steps were taken to end corruption. No answers were given,” the judge further remarked.

The AGP said that the examining the ballot papers would not lead to a violation of secrecy.

Justice Yahya Afridi also raised question that whether the court's opinion on the presidential reference would be considered final. On it, the AG replied that the government would be bound by it.

The lawyer for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) requested the court to give its opinion before February 28 so the process for holding Senate elections could be completed in time.

Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan had on Dec 23 moved the 11-page reference under Article 186 of the Constitution relating to the advisory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

The president had sought the answer to the question of whether or not the condition of secret ballot under Article 226 of the Constitution applied to the Senate elections.

Fida Hussnain

Fida Hussnain is a lahore based journalist. He writes on politics, religion, social issues and climate change. He is also a research fellow at University of Gujrat.