ISLAMABAD   -   The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday disposed of a petition filed against the passage of the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2022 which disallows overseas Pakistanis from voting electronically, after the same was withdrawn.

A single bench of IHC comprising Chief Justice of IHC Justice Athar Minallah conducted hearing of the petition moved by Dawood Ghazanavi and dual national Atif Iqbal Khan through their counsel Arif Chaudhary Advocate. In the petition, they cited the federation of Pakistan through the Secretary of Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as respondents.

During the hearing, the IHC Chief Justice remarked that the petition is premature as the president has returned the bill of amendment in the law to the Parliament. He said that the proposed amendment has not become a law to be notified and there is nothing as yet happened which needs to be struck down.

Arif Malik Advocate informed the court that he has collected all relevant laws of the world for the court. The bench asked that did the overseas Pakistanis not exercise their right to vote in previous elections. The counsel replied that they did so in by-elections.

Then the judge said you should peruse the laws of all American states, which are divergent with regard to the vote of the overseas nationals. He added that you can file a new petition after amendments become law and disposed of the petition after the lawyer withdrew it.

It was May 26 when the National Assembly passed a bill namely Elections (Amendment) Bill 2022 which reversed the election laws introduced by the previous PTI government regarding the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and i-voting for overseas Pakistanis.

In their petition, the petitioners said that the main grievance was the amendment in Section 94 in the Elections (Amendment) Act, 2022. They adopted the stance that despite the fact 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 that 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 moved an amendment in Section 94.

The petitioners contended that 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.

They further argued that the impugned amendment was not only violative of their fundamental rights but was also inconsistent with the statute as well as the judgment of the apex court which was given effect through an act of Parliament by the previous regime.

The petition said that the previous government ensured the enforcement of the fundamental right to vote for overseas Pakistanis through legislative enactment but the same had been taken away by the present regime with ulterior motives.

It added that the government’s mala fide intent could be gauged from how the Elections (Amendment) Act, 2022 was passed within a day without any debate or discussion in parliament. It termed the Section 3 of the Elections (Amendment) Act, 2022 unconstitutional, illegal and in violation of Article 17 of the Constitution. It requested the court to strike down the amendment and to suspend operation in the meanwhile.