SC reserves opinion on presidential reference on Senate open balloting

Justice Ijazul Ahsan said there is no court verdict over implementation of Article 226 on polls.

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The Supreme Court of Pakistan has on Thursday reserved its opinion over the presidential reference on the Senate open balloting.

Advocate Ahsan Irfan told the apex court that President, Senate and Assembly are three parts of the same pillar, and it is not possible that one is constitutional and the other two are not.

Justice Ijazul Ahsan remarked that there is no court verdict concerning implementation of Article 226 on the Senate elections. Ahsan Irfan said only polling procedure is mentioned in the election act, and it is mentioned nowhere that the Senate elections will be held according to the law.

Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed said political parties decide that their members will vote for which candidate. Ahsan Irfan said the law does not bind the parliamentarians to follow the decision of their party or even party head while voting.

Justice Ijazul Ahsan said the role of political parties across the world is very important, and there is no use of making them if discipline is not followed.

Khurram Chughtai, the Lahore High Court Bar’s counsel, argued that the federal government cannot seek guidance from the top court over the matter. The CJP remarked that the reference was forwarded by president.

The attorney general said the Senate elections are not under the constitution. If polling in the Senate is conducted under the constitution, its other articles will be violated, he added.