The Supreme Court of Pakistan-administered Kashmir has approved the reference filed by the government regarding the twelve seats of refugees residing in Pakistan in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly for hearing and has issued notices to the parties concerned. The court has fixed the time for further hearing of the case at 9:30 am today (Friday).
The Azad Kashmir government had filed the reference seeking a constitutional opinion from the Supreme Court under Article 46-A of the Interim Constitution of 1974. A two-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Azad Kashmir Justice Raja Saeed Akram, which also includes Justice Khalid Yousaf Chaudhry, after the initial hearing ordered the issuance of notices to the Azad Kashmir government, the opposition, political parties, bar councils and the public at large.
The issue of the twelve seats of refugees residing in Pakistan has been the center of political debate for the past several months. The Jammu and Kashmir Joint Public Action Committee is demanding the abolition of these seats. According to the action committee, the committee set up by the government of Pakistan had approved this demand in October last year, but it has not been implemented yet.
In this context, the Joint Public Action Committee has also announced a shutter-down strike and protest activities on June 9 in favor of its demands, while the Azad Kashmir government has approached the Supreme Court for a constitutional clarification on the issue.
On the other hand, Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal has announced the schedule of elections on the refugee seats while holding a press conference in Muzaffarabad.
According to the Chief Election Commissioner, polling on the seats of refugees residing in Pakistan will be held on July 27. He said that the services of Rangers and other security forces will be sought to maintain law and order during the elections and the polling process will be held under strict security surveillance.
The ongoing constitutional proceedings in the Supreme Court regarding the future of refugee seats and the announcement of the election schedule by the Election Commission have given further importance to the issue, while the eyes of political circles and public organizations are now focused on the upcoming hearing of the Supreme Court.
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