Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday dismissed Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf's (PTI) plea to grant electoral rights to Overseas Pakistanis declaring it premature. A division bench comprising Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui and Justice Athar Minallah took up the case in which PTI revived its demand that overseas Pakistanis be given the right to vote, including in the upcoming local bodies elections in Islamabad, Punjab and Sindh.
A petition was filed by Chairman PTI, Imran Khan, before IHC on Friday seeking clear-cut directions for the Federal Government to ensure that the millions of Pakistanis living abroad can take part in the electoral exercise.
Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had informed the electoral reform committee earlier that electronic voting was not possible and Nadra said it lacked the ability to handle the biometrics of such a large number of voters at one time. Farrukh Dall, Imran Khan's counsel, maintained that overseas Pakistanis must be given electoral rights; to which the court inquired if overseas Pakistanis were also given the right during local bodies elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The court observed that the legislative process is under way for local bodies elections and dismissed the case. In 2012, Supreme Court had directed the executive to take necessary steps to provide voting rights to Pakistani expatriates.
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