pakistan

SC (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023 sails through Senate

Published

1 year ago

March 30, 2023

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The upper house of the parliament on Thursday passed with majority vote the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023 tabled by the law minister.

As many as 60 lawmakers voted in favour while 19 senators opposed the bill. Opposition lawmakers tore up copies of the proposed bill. The bill is aimed at curtailing powers of chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) to take suo motu notice in an individual capacity.

The house rejected opposition’s motion for sending the bill to standing committee of the Senate. Treasury benches moved a motion to pass the bill immediately which was accepted by the house.

In the meanwhile, security staff of the Senate made a protective fence between treasury and opposition lawmakers. After that the bill was presented in the house for voting. The bill was passed by the house with majority votes.

PTI Senator Ali Zafar and Opposition leader Shahzad Wasim tried to speak but they were not given permission to express their views on the bill.

The federal cabinet had approved the bill on March 28. Later it was passed by the the National Assembly on Wednesday. A few amendments were suggested by the Standing Committee on Law and Justice hours earlier. As the bill was tabled in the upper house on Thursday, PTI members put up strong opposition.

Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, while presenting the bill in the Senate, said, “Law can never be stagnant. One has to keep a margin for changes in the law so that it can function according to needs of the people in the present.” The law minister said, “Instead of running the court through collective thinking, the court became dependent on an individual.”

Criticising the excessive use of suo motu powers, he said, “Executives were made to stand on the rostrum repeatedly. Such suo motu notices were taken that matters of cleaning streets were also brought up.”

The minister lamented that due to suo motu notices state had to incur losses worth billions of dollars . He mentioned losses faced by government in the Steel Mills and the Reko Diq agreement. The liver hospital also an example of excessive use of suo motu powers, he said.

Tarar said voices had arisen from the various bar bodies and the Senate that the “jurisdiction of Article 106 of the Constitution be restructured at least” so that it would reflect “collective thinking”.

Defending the need for the bill, he said that there were demands in the recent Senate sessions as well to do legislation to “solve the issue”. He also highlighted that two amendments had been suggested on Wednesday by the standing committee.

Detailing the salient features of the bill, the law minister said that there had now arisen an opinion from within the Supreme Court that the power to constitute benches should not lie under one person only.

“Only collective thinking takes institutions forward. If we want to strengthen institutions, we should strengthen the system instead of the personalities so that the institution can deliver,” he asserted.

Tarar further said the bill would solve the issues of deciding when a certain case has to be fixed for hearing and whether it is of public importance or not.
After passage of the bill, the session was prorogued till 10:30am on Friday (tomorrow).

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pakistan

Ali Pervaiz sworn in as minister of state

Published

18 hours ago

May 17, 2024

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Ali Pervaiz sworn in as minister of state

Member of the National Assembly Ali Pervaiz took the oath of the office of Minister of State here on Friday.

President Asif Ali Zardari administered the oath to Ali Pervaiz in a ceremony held at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.

The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, parliamentarians, and notables from different walks of life.

Ali Pervaiz was elected as MNA from NA-119 constituency of Lahore on the ticket of the Pakistan Muslim League-N in the recently held by-election.

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pakistan

Court summons Ali Amin Ganadapur in ‘illegal weapons, alcohol case’ on May 20

Published

18 hours ago

May 17, 2024

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Court summons Ali Amin Ganadapur in 'illegal weapons, alcohol case' on May 20

Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur to appear in person before the court on May 20 regarding a case involving allegations of possessing weapons and alcohol.

During a hearing presided over by Judicial Magistrate Sohaib Bilal of Islamabad district and session court, the court handed a questionnaire consisting of nine questions to Ali Gandapur’s counsel, Zahoorul Hassan.

The questionnaire seeks responses from the accused regarding various aspects of the case.

Among the questions posed to Gandapur are inquiries about his awareness of the evidence and arguments presented by the prosecution during the hearing, as well as his involvement in a gathering that allegedly violated orders issued by the district magistrate on October 30, 2016.

The court seeks clarification on an incident where Gandapur reportedly fled into a forest from his car, which was subsequently apprehended by the police.

The questionnaire addresses the recovery of illegal arms, a liquor bottle, and a person identified as Allah Nawaz wearing a bulletproof jacket with an unlicensed gun in Gandapur’s car.

The court references a report from the Punjab Forensic Science Agency confirming the presence of alcohol in the bottle recovered from Gandapur’s vehicle.

The court also inquired about the filing of charges against Gandapur and the testimony provided by prosecution witnesses. the accused is given the option to present a defense under Section 340.

The case hearing has been adjourned until May 20 to allow Gandapur to respond to the questionnaire and ordered him to appear before the court in person on that date.

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pakistan

Summer vacation for schools in Punjab to start from June 1

Published

18 hours ago

May 17, 2024

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Summer vacation for schools in Punjab to start from June 1

The provincial education department on Friday announced the schedule for summer vacation across the province as above-normal temperatures hit the parts of country.

The department has issued a notification, stating that the summer holidays will be observed from June 1 to August 14. It added that all public and private schools will reopen on August 15 (Thursday).

The department has also revised the school timings to protect students and teachers from the blistering heat. As per the revised schedule, schools will open at 7:00am to 11:30am till Thursday while the classes will conclude at 10:30am on Fridays.

Meanwhile, Met office said due to the presence of high pressure in the upper atmosphere, heatwave conditions are likely to develop over most parts of the country, especially over Punjab and Sindh from 21st May and likely to convert to severe heatwave conditions from 23rd to 27th May.

Day temperatures are likely to remain 4 to 6°C above normal in Sindh and Punjab from 21st to 23rd and from 06 to 08°C from 23rd to 27th May.

Day temperatures are likely to remain 4 to 6°C above normal in Islamabad, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan from 21st to 27th May.

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