2003 PLP 389 (CLC)

M.D. Tahir Petitioner (in person). Petitioner is a senior Advocate of this Court. Through this petition he has sought two directions, firstly, that the Government should be directed to prescribe Matriculation as minimum educational qualification for the voter in the coming General Elections and, secondly, if Graduation has been prescribed as minimum qualification for the Members of the Provincial and National Assemblies and the Senate a minimum qualification not less than a Ph.D. Barrister‑at -Law or LL.M. he prescribed for the Offices of the President and Prime Minister.

2. In support of this petition learned counsel/petitioner submitted that this country had faced political instability, massive corruption and lack of economic development primarily because a great majority of voters are illiterate and they elect persons as Head of State and Head of the Government who did not have the requisite academic qualification to handle the multi‑dimensional problems of a State in the modern world.

3. The right to vote is a fundamental right recognized in all established democracies. The Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan envisages a democratic Islamic and Federal Republic. Article 51 of the Constitution mandates that every citizen of Pakistan, if he is not less than eighteen years of age, whose name appears on the electoral role and has not been declared by a competent Court to be of unsound mind, has the right to vote, to elect his representative. The attempt to prescribe electoral qualification for a voter or for the Head of the State and the Government is based on a presumption that only literates can make right kind of choices and that they are more honest. However, this presumption is belied by the historical experience. Countries like Philippines, Malaysia, Argentina, Sri Lanka and Peru have had their share of political instability notwithstanding the fact that they have one of the highest literacy rates in the world. Across the frontier if we look at India, the State of Tamil Nadoo has highest literacy rate in India but the electorate elected Jey Lallita as Chief Minister, a lady who was thrice convicted on charges of corruption. Many Prime Ministers had resigned in Japan in the last 10/15 years on charges of corruption although again it is a country which can boast of one of the highest literacy rates.

4. There is an age‑old adage that Democracy is a form of Government which is of the people by the people and for the people. This system of governance is based on the faith in the collective wisdom of the people. The voters through the parliamentarians they elect express what is their interest, what ails the society and how they would like to resolve the issues. In this age of electronic and print media one does not necessarily require any educational qualification to understand the common problems. The wearer knows where the shoe pinches. In a country where only about 35 % of the population can read or write any attempt to prescribe I matriculation as a minimum educational qualification for a voter would tantamount to disfranchise a great majority of the people which would not be in accord with the spirit of the Constitution. Similarly, to prescribe educational qualification for the President and the Prime Minister of the kind which has been prayed in this petition would limit the choice of the electoral college and would restrict the offices only to a privileged few which is antithesis of what democracy stands for.

5. For what has been discussed above I see no merit in this petition which is hereby dismissed in limine. H.B.T./M‑1397/L Petition dismissed.