LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the federal government, the election commission and other authorities on an overseas Pakistani’s plea for allowing the citizens living abroad to cast their votes in the local government polls in Punjab.

Salman Shabbir, who lives in Australia, filed the petition through a special attorney seeking directions for election commission, the National Database & Registration Authority (Nadra), the ministry of parliamentary affairs, the ministry of law and justice, the ministry of foreign affairs, the ministry of overseas Pakistanis & human resource, the ministry of information technology & telecommunication and the Punjab government.

Petitioner’s counsel Khurram Chughtai argued that the lives of the families of the overseas Pakistanis were impacted by the election process of the country. He said the policies made by the government had an effect on the lives of the overseas Pakistanis -- be it relaxation in the remittance or the relationship of the upcoming government towards an overseas Pakistani’s resident country.

He said the overseas Pakistanis enjoyed the right to participate in the election process under the Article 17 of the Constitution and they could not be denied their right to vote on technical grounds such as logistic arrangements made outside the country.

The counsel argued that the overseas Pakistanis had not been given right to vote in the local government election in violation of the Constitution. He asked the court to declare that the overseas Pakistanis had the right to cast vote not only in the federal and provincial electorate but also the electorate of the LG as well.

Justice Shujaat Ali Khan issued notices to the respondents for submission of their replies by April 11. The judge also sought assistance from the attorney general of Pakistan on the issues raised in the petition.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2022