ISLAMABAD – Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandialsaid Wednesday that if opinion is given on Presidential Reference then whatwill be left for the apex court to decide in appeal under Article 63A ofthe Constitution.
A five-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Umar AtaBandial and comprising Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, JusticeMazhar Alam Khan Miankhel and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail heard thePresidential reference, filed under Article 186 of the Constitution and thepetition of President Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Ahsan Bhoon,filed under Article 184(3).
During the hearing, Justice Bandial remarked that defection is betrayal andit is the opposite of loyalty, which is a fundamental principle of theConstitution. The CJP added that Article 5 of the Constitution focuses onloyalty and it is the duty of every member of the parliament to be loyal tohis party.
However, he further said that the party head may condone the defection bynot forwarding a declaration to the National Assembly Speaker. Then,counsel for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Farooq H Naek said thatdisloyalty was a harsh word.
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Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan observed that if disloyalty was tantamount todishonesty then Article 62(1) (f) of the Constitution will be applicable onthe lawmaker, and they will be disqualified for life. In response toJustice Ahsan’s comments, Naek said that a party lawmaker is “not a slave”that they have to follow every order.
