In partnership with
Profit
Sunday, 9 april, 2023 I 18 Ramzan, 1444
Rs 15.00 | Vol XIII No 281 I 8 Pages I Islamabad Edition
‘IT GOES BEYOND PARLIAMENT'S COMPETENCE’
PreSIdent AlvI returnS bIll ‘clIPPIng’ cJP’S Suo moto PowerS to PArlIAment g
points oUt sc empowered by article 191 to make rUles for its practice and procedUre ISlaMaBaD
P
Staff repOrt
resident dr arif alvi on saturday sent back the supreme court (practice and procedure) bill, 2023 to the national assembly for reconsideration, citing concerns that “it goes beyond the parliament’s competence and could be deemed as a colourable legislation.” the senate passed the bill on march 30 aiming to strip the chief justice of the power to take suo motu notices individually. the bill was initially approved by the federal cabinet on march 28 and later passed by the national assembly with a few amendments. the president pointed out that the supreme court is empowered by article 191 of the constitution to make rules regarding its practice and procedure, and the supreme court rules 1980 have been in force since their adoption and validation by the constitution. any changes to these rules could interfere with the court’s autonomy and independence. the president further highlighted that articles 67 and 191 recognize the autonomy and independence of the parliament and the supreme
court respectively, barring interference in each other’s domain. additionally, the bill’s competence to be introduced by the parliament stems from the constitution, particularly article 70, article 142-a, and entry 55 of part i of the fourth schedule. these provisions exclude the supreme court from the parliament’s law-making authority. the bill primarily focuses on the original jurisdiction of the court, which article 184(3) addresses, but the president has observed that such a purpose cannot be achieved
g
retUrn of sc bill by president alvi ‘most UnfortUnate’, says pm shehbaz
without amending the relevant articles of the constitution. the president noted that “Under such enabling provisions of the constitution, the supreme court rules 1980 have been made and in force duly validated – and adopted by the constitution itself.” this indicates that these rules have been validated and adopted by the constitution itself. he further stated that “these time-tested rules are being followed ever since the year 1980 — any tinkering with the same may tantamount to interference with the
internal working of the court, its autonomy and independence.” he went on to say that the constitution was founded on the concept of trichotomy of power — three pillars of the state whose domain of power, authority and functions were defined and delineated by the constitution itself. “the parliament has also been given the power under article 67 that states — subject to the constitution, a house may make rules for regulating its procedure and the conduct of its business.”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
Govt decides to table SC Bill 2023 in joint session of parliament on Monday ISlaMaBad: the government has decided to summon a joint sitting of the parliament on april 10 to table supreme court (practice and procedure), bill 2023, aims at ‘clipping’ suo moto powers of the chief Justice of pakistan in an individual capacity. the development came after president arif alvi returned the sc bill for reconsideration to the parliament as per the provisions under the article 75 of the constitution. if the supreme court (practice and procedure) bill, 2023, is approved by the joint session of parliament with majority, it will be presented to the president again for his assent. if the president does not give his nod to it within 10 days, the approval is deemed to have been given. the legislation process says, “if the president refers back a bill to parliament it is considered in a joint session and if passed by majority is deemed to have been passed by both houses. sent again to president to give assent in 10 days failing which assent shall be deemed to have been given”. earlier in the day, president dr arif alvi has sent back the supreme court (practice and procedure) bill, 2023 to the national assembly for reconsideration, citing concerns that it goes beyond the parliament’s competence and could be deemed as a “colourable legislation.”
CJP to hear govt’s plea for withdrawal of curative review reference against Justice Faez Isa ISlaMaBaD Staff repOrt
the supreme court (sc) fixed on saturday Justice isa faez curative review reference for hearing on april 10 (monday) after the incumbent government submitted a plea last week to withdraw it. chief Justice of pakistan (cJp) Umar ata bandial will conduct an in-chamber hearing of the government plea. on march 30, prime minister shehbaz sharif ordered withdrawal of the curative review reference against supreme court’s senior-most judge Justice Qazi faez isa as the government decided to
not pursue the matter further. the federal cabinet had already approved the decision. “the prime minister has directed law minister senator azam nazir tarar to withdraw the curative review reference against Justice Qazi faiz isa,” read an official statement issued by the prime minister office. according to the statement, the premier said that Justice isa and his family were harassed and defamed in the name of presidential reference. “this was not a reference, it was a revenge action by [ex-pm] imran niazi, a vindictive person, against a fair-minded judge who followed the
path of the constitution and the law,” pm shehbaz said while ordering to take back the case. he furthered that filing of reference was “a nefarious conspiracy to divide the independence of the Judiciary and divide it,” saying the pakistan muslim league-nawaz (pml-n) and allied parties had condemned the “false reference” even during the opposition period. “imran niazi misused the constitutional office of president for this criminal act,” shehbaz said, adding that “president arif alvi became an instrument in the attack on the Judiciary and an accomplice to a lie.”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
How many more days are ‘a few more days’? g
dar tells nation imf tranche will come in a few more days, bUt how believable are his claims profIt report Shahnawaz ali
the sun sets on the 8th of april as pakistanis longingly await the 9th review of the imf to be completed. the review was meant for the first quarter of fy23 and was supposed to happen in november. after the review, pakistan was supposed to get its next tranche of the $6.5 billion extended fund facility of the imf. ever since then, the people have been told that the review is going to be completed in “a few more days”. in what could be another wolf-cry to stabilize the markets and investor
sentiments, the finance minister ishaq dar told the nation that everything re-
quired for the 9th review of the imf is now complete and the last thing required was the pledge of a friendly country for $1 billion. after which the tranche will be realized. talking to the nation after canceling his visit to washington for the spring meetings of imf and world bank, ishaq dar stated that the reason to cancel his visits was the domestic political situation. mr. dar assured that the cancellation of his trip was in no way a comment on the future of the imf deal and the deal was very close to its completion.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
Why exporters crying foul at SBP? g
matter hinges on one thing: how long it takes exporters to convert proceeds for exports into pkr, bringing them back AnAlysis lahore Shahab Omer
pakistani exporters along with the lahore chamber of commerce and industry (lcci) on saturday hit out against the state bank of pakistan (sbp) for what they claim are policies that will reduce the country’s exports to at least half their potential. So what is going on? look at it this way. generally, whenever a product is exported abroad the payment for it either in foreign currency or in pakistani rupees is known as the
‘realization’ of its proceeds. however, as the economic situation has worsened in pakistan and the rupee has slid to new lows, the central bank has felt that different exporters have been keeping their money abroad in dollars in the hope that they will ‘realize’ this money when the rate of the dollar goes up to make more profits. since the exchange rate fluctuates and exports are paid for in dollars, the sbp has set a time in which exporters need to convert their dollars into rupees and bring them back into pakistan. if the exporters are not able to do this, the sbp sets some kind of penalty. The SBP’s policies and the ex-
porter ’s protest on the 31st of march this year, the sbp in a circular said that exporters who are able to convert their export proceeds into rupees and bring it back to pakistan by april 30th will not face any penalty. however, any exporters that waited longer than that would have to pay penalties. exporters have reacted with indignation. the lcci noted on saturday that the state bank of pakistan (sbp) is passing anti-export laws that have the potential to reduce the country ’s exports to at least half of their potential level.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
fiqAh-e-hAnfiA lAhore sehr: 4:19 AM iftAr: 6:29 PM
islAMAbAd sehr: 4:20 AM iftAr: 6:37 PM
kArAchi sehr: 4:59 AM iftAr: 6:52 PM
fiqAh-e-jAfAriA lAhore sehr: 4:09 AM iftAr: 6:39 PM
islAMAbAd sehr: 4:10 AM iftAr: 6:47 PM
kArAchi sehr: 4:49 AM iftAr: 7:02 PM
Suo moto powers: Justice Faez Isa raises questions over six members bench verdict ISlaMaBaD agencieS
in a rejoinder to the supreme court six-member larger bench verdict, senior Judge of the apex court Justice faez isa has raised questions over the six-member larger bench verdict, recalling the interim order to postpone suo motu cases proceedings till amendments were made in the sc rules, 1980. on march 29, a special sc bench led by Justice isa, with a two-to-one majority, ordered suspending all suo motu cases — under article 184(3) of the constitution — until amendments were made to the sc rules governing the chief justice’s discretionary powers. the special bench order came on the suo motu case related to examining the award of additional 20 marks to hafiz-e-Quran candidates applying for enrollment to an mbbs/bds degree. the three-member bench was headed by Justice isa and comprising Justice aminuddin khan and Justice shahid waheed. subsequently on april 4, a larger bench, headed by Justice ijazul ahsan and comprising Justice munib akhtar, Justice sayyed mazahar ali akbar naqvi, Justice muhammad ali mazhar, Justice ayesha a malik and Justice syed hasan azhar rizvi, recalled the interim order authored by Justice isa. the larger bench detailed court order stating that Justice isa and Justice aminuddin’s order was “clearly violative” of a five-member bench’s august 2021 order that only the chief justice could take suo motu notice. in a nine-page note issued today, Justice isa maintained that since the gathering in a court of six distinguished judges was not permissible under the constitution or under any law, “the supreme court’s order dated 29 march 2023 passed in case no 4 could not have been set aside by the 4 april note”.