High Court Judge, Justice Dane Tuiqereqere will deliver his judgement at 2.15pm today on independent MP Ketan Lal’s application for interim orders to halt the progress of the Constitution Amendment Bill 2026.
Lal's application seeks orders restraining the Speaker of Parliament from notifying the President if the Constitution Amendment Bill is passed with the two thirds support required for conducting a referendum.
Lal's lawyer Mohammed Saneem argued whether the voting threshold used in Parliament for a Constitutional Amendment Bill complied with the constitutional requirements.
He also questioned whether the required two-thirds majority should be calculated based on Parliament's full membership or the number of members present.
The Speaker's legal counsel, Seforan Fatiaki says the parliamentary process is not completed as yet.
He says the process ends with the notification by the Speaker to the President after the third reading if the Bill gets the support of two thirds of parliament.
Fatiaki says this constitution amendment process started in parliament in 2025 and then they went to the Supreme Court, and the court then gave it's advice.
He adds since two parliamentary seats are vacant, the threshold should be two thirds of the 53 Members of Parliament in the third reading of the Constitution Amendment Bill in parliament.
