Supreme Court approves vote to extend State of Emergency

Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the parliamentary vote to pass the motion to extend the State of Emergency to 30 days was lawful.

While two of the justices have been detained, Supreme Court made the ruling with a three-vote majority of the remaining justices.

Parliament members voted to extend the State of Emergency on Tuesday while 40 MPs were present, which is less than half of the membership.

Supreme Court said a vote to extend the State of Emergency does not require the compliance of citizens, so the vote did not invoke Article 87(b) of the Constitution, which states that voting on matters requiring the compliance of citizens should be undertaken when more than half of the total membership of the parliament is present at the sitting.

The court said Tuesday’s sitting was lawful as per Article 86 of the Constitution, which states that parliament can vote on any motion if 25 percent of its membership is present.