Islamabad, October 3, 2024: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday annulled its 2022 ruling on the interpretation of Article 63(A) of the Constitution, which had prohibited lawmakers from defying party directives when casting votes in parliament.
A five-member bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, delivered a unanimous verdict in response to a plea by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), approving the review petition and reversing the previous judgment.
The original case stemmed from a reference filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in 2022, seeking the court’s interpretation of Article 63(A) in an effort to combat political defections, promote electoral transparency, and ensure democratic accountability. The court’s ruling at the time, in a 3-2 decision, held that votes cast by lawmakers who broke from party directives would be disregarded and not counted.
However, in today’s ruling, the court decided that this interpretation violated constitutional principles. The SCBA had argued that while dissident lawmakers could be de-seated, their votes must still be counted, as mandated by the Constitution. The bar association contended that the previous ruling amounted to judicial overreach by preventing lawmakers’ votes from being tallied.
Today’s judgment comes at a critical time, as the coalition government is pursuing controversial constitutional amendments, which have faced stiff resistance from the opposition.
The court’s 2022 ruling had split the bench, with then-CJP Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Munib voting in favor, while Justice Mandokhail and Justice Mazhar opposed the decision.
The SCBA welcomed today’s verdict, maintaining that it upholds the integrity of the Constitution by ensuring that all votes, even those of dissenting lawmakers, are counted in parliamentary proceedings.
