Supreme Court accepts review petition against 2022 verdict on defection clause

The Supreme Court has unanimously accepted a review petition against its 2022 verdict on the defection clause under Article 63-A of the Constitution. The previous verdict declared that votes cast against party lines should not be counted in four specific instances. Today’s ruling means that such votes will be counted in future legislation.

The four instances mentioned in Article 63-A include the election of prime minister and chief minister, a vote of confidence or no-confidence, a Constitution amendment bill, and a money bill.

Today’s decision comes amidst the ruling coalition’s efforts to make amendments to the Constitution, particularly regarding the judiciary. The review plea was filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association in June 2022.

This development follows a 3-2 split decision in 2022 where the majority verdict authors were Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Munib Akhtar. The court has now resumed hearing the review plea with a five-member bench.

Article 63-A aims to limit the voting powers of lawmakers and imposes penalties for violating the clause. Stay tuned for more updates on this ongoing case.

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