SC Sets Aside Registrar Office Objections On PTI Petition.

ISLAMABAD -- Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday set aside the Registrar Office objections on the petition of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf to ensure overseas Pakistanis' right to vote in the general elections.

Supreme Court Judge Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, who will lay down his robes on August 13, conducted hearing of the PTI petition in the chambers and after hearing the counsel, he allowed the appeal and directed the SC office to fix it in the open court for hearing.

The PTI has filed a petition against amendments to the Elections Act, 2017 - which disallows overseas Pakistanis from voting electronically. It contended that the amendments were 'discriminatory' and 'violative of fundamental rights and merits.'

The bill seeking electoral reforms was passed by the National Assembly and the Senate in May this year. The bill was passed by the joint sitting of the Parliament after President Dr Arif Alvi sent it back without giving his assent.

In the petition, the PTI cited federation, through the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) as respondents.

Overseas Pakistanis' right to vote

The petitioner contended that the amendment made to Section...