Prima facie, PTI’s election reforms were not in line with Supreme Court ruling: IHC

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday remarked that prima facie the amendment to the Elections Act, 2017, giving overseas Pakistanis the right to vote in general elections by the PTI government was not in accordance with the ruling of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

It is pertinent to mention here that the previous government had made multiple amendments to the Election Act, 2017, on November 17, 2021, including granting overseas Pakistanis the right to vote electronically and the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in general elections.

Then Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan had presented the Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021 to bring about the required amendments in a joint session of the Parliament.

On May 26, the PML-N-led collation government got passed the Elections (Amendment) Bill 2022 from the National Assembly, revoking all the amendments made by the previous government.

Later, the Elections (Amendment) Bill 2022 was challenged in the LHC.

Taking up the petition, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah noted that the voting right for overseas Pakistanis was not abolished in the recent amendment to the Election Act.

“Neither the previous nor the current law deprives overseas Pakistanis of voting," noted Justice  Minallah.

During the hearing, the court was informed that around 9 million Pakistanis live in other countries. At this, Justice Minallah asked, “In which constituency will they cast their votes?”

He maintained that the overseas Pakistanis were not deprived of their right to vote, however, the procedure for their voting is yet to be decided.  

Meanwhile, the IHC adjourned the hearing till June 3. The petition was filed by a citizen Dawood Ghaznavi.