ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday dismissed a plea seeking amendment in the procedure of overseas Pakistanis’ vote.

During the hearing, IHC Chief Justice Justice Athar Minallah remarked that the petition was premature as the president had sent back the bill of amendment in the law to the parliament. “The proposed amendment has not become a law to be notified,” he added.

Justice Minallah questioned “Nothing happened, so which thing should be struck down”. “Should the court takes back the parliament’s power?” he asked. “You should take back the petition,” he said to the petitioner lawyer.

To this the petitioner lawyer replied that he had collected all the relevant laws of the world for the court.

Justice Minallah inquired whether the overseas Pakistanis exercised their right to vote in elections.

Read more: Justice Athar Minallah confirms voting right of overseas Pakistanis intact

The petitioner lawyer told the court that overseas Pakistanis exercised their votes in by election.

The court remarked petitioner should file a new plea after the amendment in the law and dismissed the plea.

On June 1, the IHC chief justice had remarked that overseas Pakistanis still had the right to vote and the amendment in the law would not affect them.

Hearing a plea against the procedure for voting by overseas Pakistanis, Athar Minullah had confirmed that the voting right of the overseas Pakistanis was not snatched, neither in the recent amendment in the law nor in the previous one.

The IHC chief justice had said that the overseas voting rights was not snatched, but the procedure for voting must be decided with consensus.

“Parliament and constitutional bodies are present in Pakistan. The recent amendment has offered more clarity,” the chief justice had observed. “Tell us in which constituency will the overseas votes be counted?” he had queried.

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