ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah said that in the hindsight, the amendments introduced by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to a law ensuring voting rights to Pakistan nationals living abroad were not in line with a Supreme Court decision.
He was hearing a petition challenging the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2022 passed on May 26 and reversed the law which allowed electronic vote counting and enabled Pakistan nationals living abroad to cast their ballot online.
The laws were introduced in November last year with the intent to ensure transparency in elections. Pakistan has a history of parties alleging vote-rigging after every election. But furious opposition at the time, now in the government, claimed it was pushed through to rig the next election.
“I believe that this is the blackest day of our parliamentary history. We condemn it,” then-National Assembly opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif, now prime minister, said.
Justice Minallah, while observing that the amendments were not aimed at depriving overseas Pakistanis of their voting rights, asked the lawyers to present more arguments regarding the maintainability of the petition.
The judge adjourned the case until June 3.
During the hearing, Justice Minallah remarked the amendments, both new and the earlier, to the law were the same in nature. The only difference is that more explanation has been given in the new amendments, the judge said, adding that both the amendments were not seeking to eliminate the voting right of the Pakistani diaspora.
Barrister Arif Chaudhry told the court this thing had been going on for the last 30 years and no one could deny right to vote to overseas Pakistanis.
The judge asked the lawyer to at least inform the court in which constituencies, the overseas Pakistani would cast their votes.
The lawyer said that all institutions came to the Supreme Court and assured it of their willingness to work on it. After their (institutions) assurance, the apex court ordered them to act upon it.
The lawyer said the amendments which were incorporated during the previous government, they were completely fulfilling the SC order.
The court inquired how many Pakistanis were residing abroad. The lawyer replied that 0.9 million Pakistanis were living abroad.
The court further asked about the method of vote casting in America. The petitioner who lives in America and is a resident of Mansehra said that he did not know yet.
The chief justice, however, observed that apparently it looked like the amendments made to the law by the previous government was not in conjunction with the SC decision. But the new amendments do not seem to be abolishing the voting right of the overseas Pakistanis, the judge remarked.
