ISLAMABAD – The Islamabad High Court has directed the caretaker governmenton Wednesday to make Raja Zafarul Haq committee’s report on the issue ofElection Act 2017, public.

Authored by Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, the 172-page detailed judgmentalso contains key points of the report which has been kept under the wrapsuntil now.

Headed by PML veteran leader Raja Zafarul Haq, the committee was formed toprobe into objectionable changes pertaining to Khatam-e-Nabuwat (finalityof Prophethood) in the Election Act 2017.

Mushahidullah Khan and Ahsan Iqbal were the members of the committee and itlooked into how the amendment in clause regarding the finality ofprophethood was passed.

The said amendment also led to weeks-long sit-in in Islamabad followingwhich then Pakistan Muslim league Nawaz capitulated to the demands ofTehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) and sacked law minister, Zahid Hamid.Elections Bill 2017

In August, following Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification by the Supreme Court,the ECP had informed the PML-N that according to the Political PartiesOrder 2002, a disqualified MNA cannot hold any position in the party.

According to the bill, every citizen will have the right to be a part of apolitical party, except those in government service, and will also have theright to form a party.

It enables the ECP to scrutinise election expenses within 90 days, failingwhich election expenses submitted by a political party would be deemed tobe correct.

The bill states that any parliamentarian could only be disqualified for aperiod of five years and that ECP will be an independent and autonomousbody, which will formulate its own law, and party funding details will beavailable online.

It also restricts the caretaker government from making any policy decisions.

Since the Bill’s ratification, many opposition members have protestedagainst it for different reasons and have announced that they would movethe courts against it.