ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday ordered to reverse in the Elections Act 2017 all amendments in sections pertaining to the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat oath.
Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui was hearing a petition submitted by Tehreek-e-Khatm-e-Nabuwwat supporter Allah Wasaya against a controversial amendment to the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat oath in the law ? which had earlier been deemed a ‘clerical error’ and subsequently rectified.
Despite the correction, daily life in the capital over the past week had been disrupted by protesters belonging to religious parties, including the Tehreek-e-Khatm-e-Nabuwwat, Tehreek-e-Labaik Yah Rasool Allah Pakistan (TLY) and the Sunni Tehreek (ST), calling for the sacking of Law Minister Zahid Hamid and strict action against those responsible for the error.
Wasaya in his petition called for all changes to sections pertaining to the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat oath to be reversed, and for strict action to be taken against those who had a hand in the error. The deputy attorney general opposed the move, warning that as election time was nearly here, further changes to the act would cause chaos.
Wasaya also asked the government set up a database of government employees belonging to the Ahmadi faith. Justice Siddiqui subsequently ordered the changes to the oath be reversed as the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat issue could not be ignored, and asked for the report compiled by a PML-N committee probing the issue.
Published in Daily Times, November 15th 2017.
