Senate adopts six major bills moved by government

In a major development, the Senate Friday passed six government bills, five of which have already been passed by the National Assembly and would soon become the Acts of Parliament following the assent from President Arif Alvi.

During the proceedings, the Senate passed The Banks (Nationalisation) (Amendment) Bill, 2020, The Legal Aid and Justice Authority Bill, 2020, The Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2019, The Enforcement of Women's Property Rights Bill, 2020, The Superior Courts (Court Dress and Mode of Address) Order (Repeal) Bill, 2020, and The Geographical Indications (Registration and Protection) Bill, 2019. Of these bills, all but The Geographical Indications (Registration and Protection) Bill, 2019 have been passed by the NA.

This bill would now land in the NA and require the Lower House's nod and the president's assent in order to become a law. The remaining five bills would come into effect after receiving the president's nod.

The Banks (Nationalisation) (Amendment) Bill, 2020, moved by Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, landed in the Senate on January 14, 2020, following its passage by the NA a day earlier on January 13, and was referred to the relevant Senate standing committee.

The Legal Aid and Justice Authority Bill, 2020, The Enforcement of Women's Property Rights Bill, 2020 moved and The Superior Courts (Court Dress and Mode of Address) Order (Repeal) Bill, 2020, landed in the Senate on January 13, this year, following their passage by the NA on January 10, and were referred to the relevant Senate standing committees.

All the three bills have been moved by Law Minister Farogh Naseem. The Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2019, also moved by the law minister, landed in Senate on January 9, following its passage by the NA on January 7, and was referred to the relevant Senate standing committee.

The Geographical Indications (Registration and Protection) Bill, 2019, originated from Senate on January 1, 2020, and was referred to the relevant Senate standing committee. Prime Minister Imran Khan, in his capacity as minister-in-charge of the relevant ministry, is the mover of the bill.

In the Friday session, the reports from the relevant committees regarding all the six bills were presented in the Senate and the house was informed that the respective committees have passed the bills, following which these bills were presented in the house by the ministers concerned and were passed through voice vote.

Meanwhile, Senate Standing Committee on Maritime Affairs Chairperson Nuzhat Sadiq presented report of the committee on the PSDP (Public Sector Development Programme) proposed by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs for the financial year 2020-2021.

Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice Chairperson Javed Abbasi presented the committee's report on The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (Amendment) Bill, 2018.

Eleventh Quarterly Report of the Committee on Delegated Legislation was also presented in the Senate on behalf of the committee's Chairperson Kauda Babar who was on leave and did not attend the Senate session on Friday. The Senate would meet again on Monday.