The counsel for the Sindh Chief Election Commissioner Mahmood Anwar on Wednesday submitted an affidavit before the Supreme Court regarding the verification of voter lists in Karachi.
The three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed heard the case regarding the electoral reforms.
According to the affidavit, the provincial election commission carried out the verification of voter lists in the five districts of Karachi with the help of the army. During the course of proceedings, the bench also took up two individual applications, on the same subject, submitted by Hussain Mehnati and Syeda Tehsin Fatima.
The chief justice remarked that the process of voter lists verification was going well in Karachi with the help of the armed forces. The bench stated that the process was still continuing and if any grievance was raised, it should be redressed by the provincial election commission. The court reiterated that the election commission staff should make door-to-door visits and the verification process should be carried out purely with the help of armed forces and FC personnel.
Later, during the hearing of original case, the bench observed that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had to provide some kind of modality for providing the overseas Pakistanis to exercise their right to vote.
Justice Gulzar Ahmed remarked that postal ballots could be very dangerous as there were chances of rigging in the process.
Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed held that the process of postal ballots was not an easy one as it demanded a lot of exercise, finances and time.
Upon this, the chief justice remarked that the time was of essence and the ECP had to be very vigilant in making a strategy for overseas Pakistanis. He directed the attorney general, who was not present, to appear before the court in next hearing to clear the government’s point of view in this regard.
The court adjourned the hearing till Thursday.
