Thursday's verdict hearing in the case of 12 MPs cancelled
It has been a year since the EC declared that the lawmakers have been removed from parliament
12 members unseated by Elections Commission
The court proceeding scheduled for 01:30 p.m. on Thursday to make a decision on the case lodged by the Attorney General to annul the points in the Supreme Court ruling issued on the 01st of February ordering the reinstatement of the 12 opposition Members of Parliament unseated by the Elections Commission (EC).
A hearing was held on the 05th of July after court proceedings in the case had concluded following an upgrade to the Supreme Court’s full bench. In the hearing of 05th July, newly appointed Chief of Justice Dr. Abdulla Didi had said that the next court proceeding in the case will be to conclude the case.
After the Attorney General filed the case, the Supreme Court issued a temporary order to keep the 12 MPs from attending parliamentary sittings until it gives its verdict regarding the EC’s decision to unseat them.
However, after scheduling a court proceeding for 01:30 p.m. on Thursday, the court had cancelled the hearing without having given a specific reason for the cancellation.
The only points the court has not annulled in the Supreme Court ruling issued on the 01st of February is the point regarding the 12 unseated MPs and the point that declares that approval from the Supreme Court is needed to appoint Justices and Judges to court benches. Consequently, the case lodged at the court also appeals to annul these two points as well.
It is noteworthy that the three remaining Supreme Court Justices had brought amendments to the initial ruling.
While the verdict hearing was scheduled for Thursday, handling the case is the full bench of the court including Chief Justice Dr. Didi and the remaining four justices. Additional cases regarding the unseated MPs had also been lodged at the court, they are cases lodged by the MPs respectively. However, the court had not begun court proceedings for these cases.
It has been a year since the EC declared that the lawmakers have been removed from parliament after they violated a floor-crossing ban to join the opposition and the government has since been using security to keep the 12 MPs out of parliament. The new state budget was also approved without the MPs, and so were last year’s bills.
After the conviction of Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and Justice Ali Hameed, judges Abdulla Didi and Abdul Ghanee Mohamed have recently been appointed to the vacated seats at the Supreme Court.
