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Tuesday, 11 April, 2023 I 20 Ramzan, 1444
Rs 15.00 | Vol XIII No 283 I 8 Pages I Islamabad Edition
Govt tables bill seekinG ParliaMent’s nod for election fundinG iSLAMABAD
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staff report
iniSter for finance and revenue ishaq dar tabled the Money bill 2023 before the national assembly on Monday, calling on the lawmakers to discuss and decide on funds allocation for elections to the assemblies of punjab and khyber pakhtunkhwa. the bill titled “charge Sum for general election provincial assemblies of punjab and khyber pakhtunkhwa bill, 2023” was tabled in the light of the federal cabinet’s decision during the 51st session of the national assembly. dar referred to the multiple verdicts of the Supreme court and the House’s resolution in the context of the bill, claiming the Supreme court’s majority decision of 4-3 had negated the suo moto notice. the House had emphasized that the government should not implement the 3-0 decision of the apex court, which was a minority verdict. the finance minister said that in the light of the House’s resolution, the federal cabinet had deliberated upon the Supreme court decision and decided that the decision to allocate funds for provincial assemblies’ elections of kp and punjab should be tabled before the House for discussion. He added that the Supreme court, in its decision, had directed the federal government to provide rs21 billion to the election commission of pakistan to hold provincial elections. the elections would be held without general elections of the national assembly, Sindh, and balochistan assemblies, he said. the Money bill 2023 was tabled as per article 81-e of the constitu-
tion, the minister added. He assured the House that the coalition government, under the leadership of prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, was committed to eradicating terrorism and resolving the country’s economic, political, and constitutional crises to ensure prosperity and development for the nation.
the speaker announced that the bill was automatically referred to the committee. in the preamble of his speech, dar mentioned that pakistan had repaid $12 billion in foreign debt from July 2022 to date, and the country was paying each foreign payment on time.
mian abrar
in a defiant mode, the joint session of the parliament on Monday reapproved the Supreme court (practice and procedure) bill, 2023, aimed at curtailing the suo motu powers of chief Justice of pakistan umar ata bandial. the bill was moved by law Minister azam nazir tarar in the House who said the bill was sent to president arif alvi for approval but he returned to reconsideration. addressing the House, tarar said they have increased the power and brought transparency in the affairs of the Supreme court through this bill. He said the Supreme court rules were framed during the dictator’s tenure but now this law is made to eliminate the effect of the one-man show.
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SC stands with Constitution, says Justice Isa in rare speech in NA ISLAMABAD: Senior puisne judge of the Supreme court, Justice Qazi faez isa, in a “non-political speech” addressed the national constitution convention (ncc) on Monday saying the apex court stands with the constitution. the national assembly, under the leadership of Speaker raja pervez ashraf, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the constitution of pakistan 1973, a landmark document that laid the foundation of a democratic and progressive society in the country. the anniversary also comes as the country’s top institutions butt heads with political, economic and constitutional crises all raising the spectre of instability. Justice isa finds himself in the middle of an ongoing tussle and deepening divisions within the apex court, made glaringly obvious by the events over the past few weeks surrounding the Sc. the senior judge in his speech, however, maintained that he was present at the ncc “not to deliver a political speech” but because he wanted to state that he and the Sc stood behind the constitution. He also said his colleagues may have not chosen to come due to prior commitments. He also distanced himself from the “political statements” made at the forum explaining that “it may be that the cases of those in attendance might come before my court and i might have to decide against them”. Holding a copy of the constitution in one hand, Justice isa said “this book is our identity, it is pakistan’s identity.” staff report
Joint sitting of parliament again approves bill to curtail CJP’s powers iSLAMABAD
He stated that pakistan had $9.6 billion in foreign exchange reserves at present, including $4.10 billion with the State bank of pakistan and $5.50 billion of commercial banks. the minister said that the government had a strategy to take the country’s foreign exchange reserves to $13 billion by June 30. dar added that the government had improved its relations with friendly countries and international partners and taken measures to stop the illegal flight of capital from the country. He also highlighted the prime minister’s austerity measures to control the country’s expenditures and the government’s policy to end untargeted subsidies and provide targeted subsidies to deserving low-income people. the funds for the benazir income Support programme (biSp) had also increased from rs. 360 billion to rs. 400 billion, he said.
He told the House that the president said that this law is an interference in the powers of the Supreme court while they have given the authority to the judges of the Supreme court and this law has also been appreciated by the lawyers’ community. TIMELINE of ThE BILL: the government moved the bill in national assembly on March 28 and subsequently, the bill titled ‘Supreme court (practice and procedure) bill 2023′ was referred to committee. addressing the House, the law minister who moved the bill, said in the past, the Supreme court took four Suo-Motu notices in a day on administrative matters while there has been a lot of criticism regarding the rules of the apex court of the country. the law minister in favour of the bill said some Suo-Motu notices in the past did not lead to
an increase in the respect of the institution and the decisions of many notices have affected the sanctity of the Sc. later, national assembly Speaker raja pervaiz ashraf referred to the Supreme court (practice and procedure) bill 2023 to the concerned committee of the House for consideration. before the assembly session, on the same day, the federal cabinet approved the Supreme court amendment bill 2023 to hand over the Suo-Motu powers to the senior judges’ committee. on March 29, na passed judicial reforms bill to curtail cJp’s suo motu powers. after passing the Supreme court (practice and procedure) bill 2023 in which the right to appeal against the decisions on the Suo Motu notices has also been given to the parties.
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ECP seeks authority to ‘announce poll dates unilaterally’ iSLAMABAD staff report
the election commission of pakistan (ecp) has sought amendments to the elections act, 2017 that will empower the electoral watchdog to announce poll dates unilaterally, without it having to consult the president. the request for amendments was made in letters written by chief election commissioner Sikandar Sultan raja and ecp Secretary omar Hamid khan to principal Secretary to prime Minister dr Syed tauqir Hussain Shah, parliamentary affairs Secretary Muhammad Shakeel Malik, national assembly Speaker raja pervaiz ashraf and Senate chairman Sadiq Sanjrani on Monday. the letters referred to the “controversy” regarding elections to punjab and khyber pakhtunkhwa assemblies. ecp officials particularly cited two Supreme court (Sc) judgements in this connection, issued on March 1 and april 4. in its March 1 verdict, the Sc had ruled that elections in kp and punjab — both of which have been under caretaker governments since the provincial assemblies were dissolved in January — should be held within 90 days. However, after the ecp announced in March that elections in punjab would be deferred till october, the Sc issued another ruling on april 4, de-
claring the commission’s decision “unconstitutional” and fixing May 14 as the date for polls in the province. in their letters today, the ecp officials maintained that according to the constitution, the commission was the “sole arbiter” to decide whether the circumstances existed to conduct elections or not and this mandate was “not subordinate to any authority”. the Sc’s March 1 and april 4 judgements, on the other hand, “have divested the commission of its constitutional powers to determine as to whether conducive environment in facts and cirtcumstances exists for the conduct of elections in a given time to meet the standards mentioned in article 218 (3)” of the constitution, the letters said. they further stated that under article 218 (3), the ecp was obligated to “organise and conduct elections and to make such arrangements as are necessary to ensure that the election is conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with the law and that corrupt practices are guarded against”. the ecp officials also lamented that while the institution had “consistently strived to uphold the writ of law, fair play and merit in letter and spirit”, these “exemplary efforts” were not supplemented and rather its “writ has systematically been challenged on several occasions”.
fiqah-e-hanfia lahore sehr: 4:16 aM iftar: 6:30 PM
islaMabad sehr: 4:17 aM iftar: 6:39 PM
karachi sehr: 4:56 aM iftar: 6:53 PM
fiqah-e-jafaria lahore sehr: 4:06 aM iftar: 6:40 PM
islaMabad sehr: 4:07 aM iftar: 6:47 PM
karachi sehr: 4:46 aM iftar: 7:03 PM
PKR faces difficulties against US dollar, ends up settling at 287 g
Saudi arabian financing aSSurance only poSitive day for pakiStani rupee profit islamabad
on Monday, the pakistani rupee experienced a significant drop against the uS dollar in the inter-bank market, closing at 287.09, down 2.44 or 0.85%, according to the State bank of pakistan. this comes after the rupee had already depreciated 0.3% the previous week. the currency fell in four of the five sessions, with only a slight gain on thursday when it was announced that the international Monetary fund (iMf) had received financing assurance from Saudi arabia.
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