Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has remarked that all measures should be taken to grant voting rights to overseas Pakistanis, and no legislation is needed in this regard.
He was presiding over a three-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC) while hearing various petitions on Wednesday.
Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Shafiq Chandio appeared in the court and said that a joint meeting of Attorney General Irfan Qadir, officials of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and respective ministries had been held under the court’s orders, adding that a mechanism aimed at granting right of vote to the overseas Pakistanis was being devised and one more meeting would be held to give final shape to the procedure.
Chandio asked the court to grant more time so that its order could be implemented in letter and spirit.
The court said that it had no objection over allowing more time, but added that the overseas Pakistanis should be given voting rights as soon as possible.
The SC said the government and the ECP had time until March 4 to formulate procedure for granting voting rights to the overseas Pakistanis. The hearing of the case was adjourned until March 4.
