Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought report from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) over non-compliance of its direction for devising a voting mechanism for overseas Pakistanis.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar while resuming a case regarding right of vote to overseas Pakistanis, issued notices to the ECP and NADRA.

Welfare Society for Overseas Pakistani Rights (WSOPR) Chairman Dawood Ghaznavi along with 35 overseas Pakistanis residing in 14 different countries, had moved a petition through Mujtaba Haider Sherazi, for the implementation of Supreme Court judgement which has established overseas Pakistani fundamental right to vote in elections.

The judgement established overseas Pakistanis right to vote as a fundamental right under Article 17 of the constitution.

Article 17 of the constitution urges the government to extend the facility of voting to overseas Pakistanis in the election.

According to the petitioner, in 2014, the Parliamentary Committee for Electoral Reform was formed for reforms. The committee formed a sub-committee to devise a mechanism in this regard. The committee met 65 times, but failed to devise any voting mechanism for the overseas Pakistanis. The Draft Election Bill 2017 tabled on December 20, 2016, mentioned no voting mechanism for overseas Pakistanis.