The Supreme Court has given the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) instructions to provide a progress report on the right to vote for expatriates.
Judge Akhtar raises the question, “why should the court interfere if the Parliament is altering the law?”
ISLAMABAD: On Friday, the Supreme Court ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to submit a status report on the voting rights of Pakistanis living abroad.
The hearing on a case involving granting expatriates 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 was presided over by a three-member panel led by Judge Ijazul Ahsan.
How is the law’s amendment granting abroad Pakistanis the right to vote not constitutionally valid, the top court questioned during the hearing?
At the hearing, Judge Muneeb Akhtar remarked that “the Election Act was passed by Parliament in 2017,” adding that “Section 94 of the act regarding the ability to vote of abroad Pakistanis is clear.”
The apex court had pronounced Section 94 to be constitutional in 2018, he continued.
The law was further improved in 2021, and Parliament was reinstated to its previous status in 2022, according to Judge Akhtar.
The justice of the supreme court went on to ask how the law, which had previously been upheld as constitutional, could suddenly be deemed unconstitutional by the SC.
According to NADRA, if the ECP signs an agreement, they can establish an I-voting system within a year, according to the petitioner’s attorney, Arif Chaudhary.
He continued by saying that NADRA had previously requested a year, but the system was constructed in six months at the court’s request.
In 2017, Chaudhary continued, “No objection was voiced on the test project.
The “electoral watchdog has ceased work on the question of expatriate Pakistanis’ right to vote,” Rashid’s attorney informed the court.
There is no barrier, he continued, if the ECP takes action to grant abroad Pakistanis the right to vote.
The Election Act revision was then questioned by Judge Akhtar, who added that “if the Parliament is modifying the legislation, why should the court interfere?”
In addition, he stated that “no matter what the courts’ observations are, every statute of Parliament is a constitutional notion.”
Judge Akhtar said, “The petition filed for infringement of fundamental rights should be unambiguous.
The petitioners’ attorney was then told to submit an amended application, and the electoral watchdog was told to submit a progress report on the voting rights of Pakistanis living abroad.
In order to undo PTI-era legislation that had given abroad Pakistanis the right to vote and mandated the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs), the federal cabinet adopted an election amendment law last year, deciding that pilot projects would determine the fate of both initiatives.
The cabinet referred to the Pakistanis living abroad as a significant resource for the nation and stressed the significance of include them in the electoral process. It claimed that the previous administration passed laws without consulting the ECP in this regard.
