Justice Bandial says defection akin to ‘betrayal’
Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial observed on Wednesday that loyalty was the fundamental principle of the Constitution.
The chief justice’s remarks came as the apex court resumed hearing on the presidential reference, concerning the interpretation of Article 63(A), filed by the outgoing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s government.
“Defection is betrayal. It is the opposite of loyalty, which is a fundamental principle of the Constitution,” the CJP observed. He added that Article 5 of the Constitution focuses on loyalty. “It is the duty of every member of the parliament to be loyal to his party,” the CJP maintained.
However, the CJP added that the party head may condone the defection by not forwarding a declaration to the National Assembly speaker. However, counsel for the Pakistan People’s Party Farooq H Naek said that disloyalty was a harsh word.
Moreover, Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan stated that if disloyalty was tantamount to dishonesty then Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution will be applicable on the lawmaker, and they will be disqualified for life.
The judge further maintained that the party was the backbone of the parliamentary system. However, Naek insisted that Article 62(1)(f) could not be applied on account of defection. He argued that there was a difference between “loyalty” and “slavery”. He said that if the court thinks that a defecting lawmaker could be disqualified for life then it would be tantamount to re-writing the Constitution. Advocate General Sindh Salman Talibuddin argued that the insertion of Article 63(A) of the Constitution reflects how mature democracy is in the country.
