The People's Majlis has passed an amendment bill to remove two justices from the Supreme Court bench and reduce the size of the bench from seven to five members.

The bill was passed by a roll call vote after three opposition MPs were forced to leave the chamber. Sixty-eight ruling party MPs voted in favour while eight opposition MPs voted against it.

However, Hithadhoo Central MP Ahmed Azaan, from the ruling People's National Congress (PNC), did not participate in the vote because he believed the bill was "unconstitutional."

The amendment bill to the Judicature Act was proposed by Holhudhoo MP Abdul Sattar Mohamed on behalf of the government.

It was proposed to the parliament on Sunday night and accepted for deliberations on Monday afternoon. The Judiciary Committee approved the bill without any changes in just an hour on Tuesday.

According to the bill, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) should determine the two judges to be removed from the court and send their names to parliament within five days of the law coming into force.

The People's Majlis must decide on the removal of the judges within seven days. Judges can be removed by a two-thirds majority of the parliament.

The bill was proposed amid a constitutional case on MP disqualification. In November last year, a subsection (e) was added to Article 73 of the Constitution, specifying new conditions for the removal of MPs.

With the new amendment, MPs will lose their seat if they defect from the political party under whose ticket they were elected, join a political party after being elected as an independent candidate, or voluntarily leave or are expelled from their political party while in office.