ISLAMABAD: Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani Friday came under scathing criticism from the opposition in the upper house of the parliament for allowing the presentation of ‘controversial’ Supreme Court (Review of Judgements and Orders) Bill 2023 in the supplementary agenda, without referring it to the relevant standing committee, which was passed by the house.
Like the previous 328th session, the 329th session was prorogued the same day its maiden sitting was held—apparently to get the Supreme Court (Review of Judgements and Orders) Bill 2023, a private bill, and two government bills; Kalam Bibi International Women Institute, Bannu Bill 2023 and Private Power and Infrastructure Board (Amendment) Bill 2023, passed by the house. All these three bills were recently passed by the National Assembly.
NA passes ‘SC (Review of Judgements and Orders) Bill’
The session ended in less than two hours. In the house proceedings, Irfan Siddiqui from Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) sought the leave to present the Supreme Court (Review of Judgements and Orders) Bill 2023. Siddiqui, Rana Maqbool, Hafiz Abdul Karim and Nuzhat Sadiq are the joint movers of the bill.
The chairman Senate asked the house if this bill was opposed, to which Opposition Leader Dr Shahzad Waseem responded in affirmative.
Taking the floor, he deplored that the bill aimed at bailing out the influential political figures who were convicted by the courts in serious corruption cases.
“They (government officials) are bringing this bill to do away with their cases of mega corruption. First, they got rid of corruption cases against them— and now this bill would give refuge to the political figures, who have been disqualified from holding any public office, in serious corruption cases,” he said.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar responded that the bill aimed to address the “injustice,” which, he said, is meted out at the petitioners in the review petitions moved in the Supreme Court.
Protesting against the bill, the opposition senators encircled the dais of the chairman Senate, tore apart copies of the house’s business agenda and chanted slogans like “contempt of court unacceptable-imported government unacceptable—fake bill unacceptable.”
Amidst the ruckus, Sanjrani held voice vote on granting the leave to present the bill. As many as 32 votes were in favour of the bill’s presentation and 21 were against it. The bill was presented and finally passed by the house.
“Article 188 of the Constitution of Pakistan empowers the Supreme Court, subject to the provision of any act of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) and any rules made by the Supreme Court, to review any judgment pronounced or any order made by it the purpose of this bill is to enlarge the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court as expressly provided under Article 188 to facilitate and strengthen the exercise of this power by the Supreme Court.
It is necessary to ensure the fundamental right to justice by providing for meaningful review of judgments and orders passed by the Supreme Court in exercise of its original jurisdiction under Article 184. The Bill has been designed to achieve the aforesaid objectives,“ reads the bill’s statement of objects and reasons.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar presented a report of the parliamentary committee regarding examining the amendments proposed by the Election Commission of Pakistan in the Elections Act 2017.
The house also passed a resolution expressing deep grief and sorrow over the death of former senator Enver Baig.
Government’s Emigration (Amendment) Bill 2023 was introduced and referred to the relevant standing committee. The Senate was later prorogued.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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