Islamabad: Pakistan's Supreme Court on Monday suspended membership of 28 parliamentarians elected in by-elections held on the basis of what were said to be flawed voters' lists.
Their membership will remain suspended until an amendment to the constitution is passed by the parliament to endorse their election, the court ruled.
Among the suspended are nine members of the National Assembly, the lower house of the parliament, and three members of the Senate, the upper house. The senators include Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Petroleum Minister Asim Hussain.
The affected members of provincial assemblies include eight from Punjab, four from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, three from Sindh and one from Balochistan province.
Of the Punjab Assembly members hit by the decision, seven belong to the Pakistan Muslim League-N and one to the Pakistan People's Party.
A four-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry passed the suspension order after hearing a petition regarding bogus entries in the electoral rolls.
The petition was filed by popular politician and former cricket hero Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan's Tehreek-e-Insaaf party (PTI).
The bench observed that the government had failed to get its proposed 20th Amendment to endorse the election of the 28 in by-polls passed by the parliament in the given time frame.
The court rejected PTI leader's plea to stop by-elections until new electoral rolls are provided by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
It said the National Database and Registration Authority has assured that by the stipulated deadline of February 25 it will be able to provide fresh lists of voters to the ECP to conduct polls in the required constituencies.
