ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court of Pakistan has fixed a hearing for the presidential reference seeking opinion on open balloting for the upcoming Senate elections,
A five-judge larger bench, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed and comprising of Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan and Justice Yahya Afridi will hear the reference on February 2, 2021.
The bench has issued notices to Advocate Generals, the Election Commission of Pakistan, Chairman Senate, Speaker National Assembly and the Speakers of provincial assemblies.
The registrar’s office of the apex court had earlier fixed the case for hearing on January 18.
The reference was submitted by the Attorney General of Pakistan Khalid Javed Khan after getting approved by President Dr Arif Alvi under Article 186 of the Constitution last week.
The Sindh government had opposed any changes to the electoral process for the Senate elections aimed at allowing voting through an open ballot.
The Sindh government will submit its response to a presidential reference before the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the upcoming hearing.
