Petition on Article 63A interpretation returned

The Supreme Court Registrar Office on Thursday returned a review petition against the decision on the presidential reference filed for the interpretation of Article 63A of the Constitution.

The apex court, in its decision on May 17 on the presidential reference regarding the interpretation of Article 63A, observed that the vote given by a dissident member of the assembly against the party policy would not be counted, while the lifetime disqualification or the period of disqualification of the member should be determined by parliament.

The registrar office objected to the review petition, stating that the reference to the amendment of Article 63A was sent to the Supreme Court by President Dr Arif Alvi.

The presidential reference was sent to the Supreme Court under Article 186, it added.

The interpretation of any article was a matter between the Supreme Court and the president.

The registrar office dismissed the review appeal against the judgment in the presidential reference for interpretation of Article 63A, saying the petition was not maintainable.

The review petition against the Article 63A court verdict was filed by Ayesha Nawaz, a dissident member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.