Amendments to election, NAB laws: SC directs fixing Imran’s constitutional petition

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday directed fixing a constitutional petition of former prime minister Imran Khan, challenging the amendments made to election laws revoking the voting rights of overseas Pakistanis through internet voting.The court, after hearing the PTI counsel, removed the objections of the SC registrar and ordered fixing the hearing before a bench.

The Registrar’s Office had returned the petition by raising objections that the petitioner had not approached the relevant forum and directly moved the SC.

On Wednesday, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah heard the PTI appeal in the chamber and removed the registrar’s objections.

Imran had prayed to the court to declare that Section 94 (1) of the Elections Act 2017 as inserted by the Elections (Amendment) Act 2021 was the existing law, and that all institutions, especially the ECP and Nadra, were bound to act in accordance with it.

On June 9, the parliament’s joint session had passed the Elections (Amendment) Bill 2022

and the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill 2022, depriving overseas Pakistanis of voting rights through i-voting, abolishing the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and making changes to NAB chairman’s appointment procedures.