The Supreme Court has ruled that there is no reason to stop the referendum scheduled for April 4 to merge the presidential and parliamentary elections.

A five-judge bench heard the case in the Supreme Court. They are the Chief Justice Abdul Ghanee Mohamed, Justice Ali Rasheed Hussain, Justice Dr Mohamed Ibrahim, Justice Abdulla Hameed and Justice Hussain Shaheed.

The bench ruled unanimously in the case. The Chief Justice's opinion was supported by all the other judges.

The case was filed against the President's Office, the Attorney General's (AG) Office and the Elections Commission (EC).

The case alleged that the question in the presidential decree and the EC announcement goes against the constitution.

"The question of whether to approve the entire bill is designed to obscure the real change to the constitution. Since this question is not designed to meet the requirements of Article 262(b) of the constitution, the Supreme Court must declare that the referendum scheduled for April 4 should not be held,” the case documents read.

The state wanted the Supreme Court to rule that there is no legal basis to stop the referendum. The ruling was in favour of the state.

Three of the five justices who heard the case were appointed by President Mohamed Muizzu.