SC directs ECP to submit progress report on voting right for expats

Justice Akhtar questions 'if the Parliament is amending the law, why should the court interfere?'

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to submit a progress report on the right to vote for overseas Pakistanis.

A three-member bench headed by Justice Ijazul Ahsan presided over the hearing on a case pertaining to giving expats the right to vote on the petitions of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and Pakistan Awami Muslim League (AML) founder Sheikh Rashid.

During the hearing, the apex court questioned “how is the amendment of the law of the right to vote of overseas Pakistanis not constitutionally valid?”

Justice Muneeb Akhtar remarked during the hearing and said that the “Parliament enacted the Election Act in 2017”, adding that “Section 94 of the act regarding the right to vote of overseas Pakistanis is clear.”

He furthered that “in 2018, the apex court had declared Section 94 as constitutional.”

Read: Voting right for expats only after pilot experiment

“In the year 2021, the law was further improved, in 2022 Parliament was brought back to the old level,” remarked Justice Akhtar.

The apex court justice further questioned, “how can the SC now declare the law to be unconstitutional which was declared constitutional in the past?”

The petitioner’s lawyer, Arif Chaudhary, said that according to NADRA, if the ECP signs an agreement, they can create an I-voting system within a year.

He added that in the past, NADRA had asked for a year's time, but at the request of the court, the system was built in six months.

“No objection was raised on the pilot project in 2017,” added Chaudhary.

Rashid’s lawyer told the court that the “electoral watchdog has halted work on the issue of overseas Pakistanis' right to vote”.

“If the ECP takes steps to give the right to vote to overseas Pakistanis, there is no obstacle,” he added.

Justice Akhtar then questioned if the amendment of the Election Act has affected basic human rights, adding that “if the Parliament is amending the law, why should the court interfere?”

He also noted that “every enactment of Parliament is a constitutional concept no matter what the courts’ observations are.”

“The petition filed for violation of fundamental rights should be clear,” remarked Justice Akhtar.

Justice Mazahar Ali Naqvi then directed the petitioners’ lawyer to submit an amended application and also directed the electoral watchdog to submit a progress report on voting rights of overseas Pakistanis.

Last year, the federal cabinet approved an election amendment bill aiming to reverse the PTI-era legislation which had granted voting rights to overseas Pakistanis and made it compulsory to hold elections through electronic voting machines (EVMs), deciding that pilot projects should determine the fate of both the proposals.

The cabinet termed the overseas Pakistanis as a valuable asset of the country and said that it was important to include them in the election process. In this regard, it said that the previous government enacted legislation without taking the ECP into confidence.