‘Elections Act, 2017’: None of amendments deprives overseas Pakistanis of right to vote, observes IHC

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court (IHC) Athar Minallah observed that none of the amendments made to the Elections Act, 2017 by the incumbent coalition government deprives the overseas Pakistanis of their right to vote.

The IHC CJ made the observation on Wednesday while hearing a petition filed against the passage of the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2022 which disallows overseas Pakistanis from voting electronically.

The petition was filed by Dawood Ghaznavi and dual national Atif Iqbal Khan through Arif Chaudhary advocate. In the petition, they cited the federation through the secretary Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as respondents.

The National Assembly on May 26 passed a bill namely ‘Elections (Amendment) Bill 2022’, which reversed the election laws introduced by the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government regarding the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and E-voting for overseas Pakistanis.

During the hearing, Justice Minallah remarked that the amendments, both new and the earlier, to the law were the same in nature and the only difference is that more explanation has been given in the new amendments. He added that both the amendments were not seeking to eliminate the voting right of the overseas Pakistanis.

The counsel, Arif, informed the court that this thing had been going on for the last 30 years and no one could deny the right to vote to the overseas Pakistanis. The Court asked the lawyer in which constituencies, the overseas Pakistani would cast their votes.

He contended that all the institutions assured the Supreme Court of their willingness to work on vote to the overseas Pakistanis, adding after their assurance the apex court had ordered them to act upon it. He further said the amendments which were incorporated during the previous government were completely fulfilling the SC order.

The court then asked how many Pakistanis were residing abroad. The lawyer replied that 0.9 million Pakistanis were living abroad.

Later, the IHC chief justice observed that apparently it looked like the amendments made to the law by the previous government were not in accordance with the SC’s decision and the new amendments do not seem to be abolishing the voting right of the overseas Pakistanis.

The petitioners’ objected to the amendment in Section 94 in the Elections (Amendment) Act, 2022, saying that despite that the law mandated the ECP to take some decisive acts to enable overseas Pakistanis to exercise their right to vote, no action in this regard had been taken by the respondent.

They said the former PTI government had made an amendment in sub-section (1) of Section 94 of the Elections Act, 2017 and the present regime, which was vociferously opposing the fundamental right of vote of overseas Pakistanis at all levels, also made an amendment in Section 94.

The petitioners contended that the new amendment has reversed not only the enactment made to enforce the fundamental rights of the petitioners but has also set aside/reversed the judgment of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

They argued that under Section 94 of the Elections Act, 2017, the ECP is legally bound to devise a mechanism to enforce the fundamental right of vote of overseas Pakistanis, which had been virtually taken away under the guise of the said amendment act. The case was adjourned until June 3.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022