Supreme Court rules in favor of AG office motion

Supreme Court had ruled in favor of the the ex-parte case sent in by Attorney General to Supreme Court, that seeks to criminalize floor crossing which will ensure that MPs stood to lose their seats.

The hearings of the case begun on Thursday.

Thirty-one Members of Parliament had requested to be intervenors in the case, as confirmed by opposition MDP’s Spokesperson Imthiyaz Fahmy and PPM’s Maumoon faction’s Secretary General Abdul Aleem Adam.

Several law firms had also requested to become intervenors into the case, including lawyers Shaaheen Hameed and Maumoon Hameed.

Speaking to RaajjeMV, Shaaheen said that his law firm, Premier Chambers had requested to be intervenors including Maaz Shareef, Mohamed Ibrahim, Aishath Shifala and Ibrahim Shameel.

Shaheen, who had served as Speaker in the Special Parliament, said he and his firm had requested to be intervenors as the motion sent in by the Attorney General had included many aspects that essentially stripped public of their rights and against the Constitution.

As such, Shaheen said that the case was filed as an ex-parte case, which are normally filed under special procedures and has serious responsibilities to it. The case, he said has to mention what the other party stands to lose. Shaheen said the case did not refer to any party and the Attorney General himself had not said as such. He noted that the case, presented as it is now, will benefit one party at the expense of the other.

Attorney General’s case with the Supreme Court asked the Justices to disqualify MPs who switch party allegiances – which was filed in reference to Articles 30, 74, and 75 of the constitution. The motion was submitted on behalf of the citizens.

After AG Anil had filed the case, much criticism was aimed at him. The opposition had argued that Anil had acted solely in the defense of his position. Premier Chambers had also filed suit in Supreme Court over the validity of his position in light of the submission of the motion.

Government’s PG had supported the motion. RaajjeMV understands that the motion will be passed in a manner that does not put the PPM MPs will not lose their seats.

The motion came after high profile defections from PPM, which had resulted in the Government losing their majority status in Parliament.