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Thursday, 30 march, 2023 i 8 Ramzan, 1444 President eyes ‘crisis resolution role’ in current situation
Fate of ‘selection’ to be decided before ‘election’: Maryam Nawaz Story on Back Page
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Rs 15.00 | Vol Xiii No 271 i 8 Pages i islamabad Edition
Pakistan Railways set to float tender allowing facilities to be utilised for advertising
Nation to give PTI landslide victory in polls, hopes Imran
Story on Back Page
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GovernmenT curTails chief jusTice’s powers wiTh new bill g
BIll ClIPS CHIEF JUSTICE’S AUTHoRITy To INVoKE SUo MoTo PRoVISIoN, WHICH AlloWS HIM To TAKE UP CASES oN HIS oWN INITIATIVE ISLAMABAD
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staff report
HE National Assembly passed the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023 on Wednesday to restrict the ability of the chief justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice in an individual capacity, creating a new constitutional crisis in Pakistan. Minister for law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar presented the bill, declaring there is no need for a constitutional amendment. Mohsin Dawar of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) proposed amendments that were accepted, and the Standing Committee on law and Justice approved the cabinet’s proposed amendments earlier in the day. The panel, chaired by Pakistan Muslim league-Nawaz (PMl-N) MP Bashir Mehmood Virk, cleared the bill with additional amendments, including the right to appeal against suo motu verdicts taken up to 30 days before the passing of the lawyers’ Protection Act and the requirement that any case involving the interpretation of the Constitution be heard by a bench of at least five judges. The meeting was attended by several officials, including Tarar, his deputy Shahadat Awan, PMl-N MPs Mohsin Ranjha and Ramesh Kumar Vankwani. ‘CONSTiTUTiONAl RiGHT’ Speaking on the floor of the
house before the adoption of the bill, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif clarified the Parliament was not attempting to seize powers from the
Supreme Court, but was instead legislating in accordance with its constitutional right. The minister revealed that a bill similar to the Supreme
Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023 had been drafted 15 years ago but had been opposed by a bench of the apex court. Asif noted that the bill was not adding any parliamentarians, but rather included judges from the Supreme Court, adding that the powers of one individual were being diluted and divided among three judges. He emphasized that the Parliament was making the process transparent and was empowered by the constitution, while all other institutions were extensions of it. He also called for a review of the law regarding the disqualification of former prime minister yusuf Raza Gillani and criticised the disqualification of deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif without the right to appeal.
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SCBA: Won’t allow clipping judiciary’s power iSlAmABAd: Abid Zuberi, President of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), has asserted that the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023 was aimed to suppress an institution, vowing that they will not allow anyone to curtail judiciary’s power. Talking to journalists in Islamabad, the SCBA president noted that as per the Constitution, election should be held within 90 days of dissolution of assemblies. Abid Zuberi questioned the authority of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for changing the election date, saying that the electoral watchdog would have filed a review petition if it had any objection to the date. The SCBA president further said that the bar association was not affiliated with any political party. “However, allegations are levelled against us for standing with a victim,” he said. “It is time to impose Article 6 on those who violated the constitution and law”, he stressed, adding that Article 5 and 90 of the constitution will be violated if elections are not held within 90 days. Referring to Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, Zuberi questioned the time the bill was president in the Parliament. “The bill’s aim was to suppress an institution,” he said, adding that they would not allow curtailing of judiciary’s power. staff report
‘imF verifying financing from China, UAE and Saudia’
No rule gives CJP power to make special benches, select judges: SC
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ISLAMABAD
MINISTER SAyS All IMF CoNDITIoNS FUlFIllED, No CAUSE FoR WoRRy AT THIS PoINT IN TIME ISLAMABAD
staff report
shahzad paracha
A divisional bench of Supreme Court of Pakistan, with a majority of 2 to 1, on Wednesday ruled that all cases under Article 184 (3) be postponed until amendments are made to Supreme Court Rules 1980 regarding the discretionary powers of Chief Justice of Pakistan to form benches. The verdict by Justice Qazi Faez Isa-led bench came following the passage of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, by the National Assembly, aims at “clipping powers” of the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo moto notice in an individual capacity. The two judges passed the order in a case pertaining to the 2018 regulation of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) that suggested an award of 20 additional marks to candidates for memorising the Holy Quran by heart to get MBBS or BDS degrees. The case was heard by Justice Isa, Justice Aminuddin as well as Justice Shahid Waheed — who gave dissenting note. CJP Umar Ata Bandial had formed a three-judge special bench, led by Justice Qazi Faez Isa, to hear the suo moto case related to examining the grant of 20 additional marks to a Hafiz-e-Quran student while admitting them for an MBBS/BDS degree.
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The Minister of State for Finance and Revenue, Ayesha Ghous Pasha, stated that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is verifying external financing from friendly countries such as China, UAE and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. She claimed this in a briefing at the senate’s Finance and Revenue Committee under the chairmanship of Senator Saleem Mandviwalla which was met to discuss IMF program and foreign exchange dollar instability. “All the prerequisite actions have been taken and the only touch point left is external financing which is being verified by the IMF from China, UAE and Saudi Arabia,” said Pasha. She elaborated that there were concerns about securing financing from brotherly countries. But since yesterday evening, progress is being made on the issue. Pasha reiterated that all IMF agenda items have been met by and there was no cause for worry at this point in time. China has already helped and assurances will come from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, she insisted. The state minister also said that this time the lender wants no leaf unturned, pointing towards the difficult but necessary economic decision the government recently took such as the imposition of Rs 170 billion in additional taxes, and
price hikes and reforms in the energy sector. discussion on energy and forex exchange Senator Farooq H. Naek inquired on the newly introduced petrol subsidy by the government to which the minister of state replied that the petrol subsidy has not yet been put into practice and a plan is being worked out. Naek also recommended a draft of a regular program on food subsidy for the lower middle class. He emphasized that food inflation is at high and the government should envisage a plan to provide food subsidies instead of providing free food, as the latter would encourage beggary. The chairman of Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan, Malik Bostan, also briefed members on the issue of foreign exchange dollar instability. The association discussed various recommendations and assured that if policies are revised and restrictions are relaxed by keeping in view the current economic situation of the country, dollar stability can be achieved.
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despite security threats, Pakistan held elections for past two decades: CJP ISLAMABAD staff report
Responding to concerns raised by the Elections Commission of Pakistan (ECP) about security threats to timely elections, the chief justice of Pakistan noted that despite facing militancy for the past two decades, elections have been held regularly in Pakistan. The remarks by Umar Ata Bandial came as Supreme Court resumed hearing the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) petition requesting that the tribunal be directed to hold the elections on the previously scheduled date of April 30. It contends that the decision to delay the polls violated the Constitution and amounted to amending and subverting it.
The apex court heard divergent views from a five-judge bench, chaired by Justice Bandial and including justices Ijaz ulAhsan, Munib Akhtar, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, and Amin ud-Din Khan. Among those present at the hearing were Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawyer Farooq H. Naek, Irfan Qadir, PTI lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar, and ECP counsel Sajeel Swati. At one point in the hearing, Justice Mandokhail questioned the commission’s lawyer on whose orders the commission had acted. Swati responded the ECP had followed the March 1 verdict and had promptly reached out to the president, who had set April 30 as the date for polls in Punjab. The commission then issued a schedule for the elections and started preparations accordingly, he said.
However, Justice Mandokhail inquired if the ECP had read the brief order given by Justice Shah and himself in the March 1 Supreme Court order. Swati responded that there may have been some misunderstanding. Justice Akhtar also questioned whether the brief order said that the March 1 verdict was passed in a 4-3 majority, noting it was not written anywhere in the original order. He emphasized that a minority decision cannot prevail over a majority decision, and that the law is clear that a minority decision holds no significance. At this, the chief justice interjected, saying the matter should stay within their chambers, but Justice Mandokhail persisted in asking about the ECP’s position after the detailed decision.
fiqah-e-hanfia lahore sehr: 4:33 aM iftar: 6:22 PM
islaMabad sehr: 4:35 aM iftar: 6:30 PM
karachi sehr: 5:10 aM iftar: 6:47 PM
fiqah-e-jafaria lahore sehr: 4:23 aM iftar: 6:32 PM
islaMabad sehr: 4:25 aM iftar: 6:40 PM
karachi sehr: 5:00 aM iftar: 6:57 PM
EU takes Pakistan off ‘list of high-risk third countries’ g
PAKISTAN WAS PUT oN lIST IN oCT 2018 profIt islamabad
The European Union (EU) has removed Pakistan from the “list of High-Risk Third Countries” after which Pakistani businesses and individuals will no longer be subjected to “Enhanced Customer Due Diligence” by the regionals body’s legal and economic operators. A statement issued by the Ministry of Commerce today said the EU authorities have removed Pakistan from the list of those nations which have strategic deficiencies in the Anti Money laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMl/CFT) regime that pose significant threat to their financial system. According to the delegated regulation, “Following the measures implemented to address the action plans agreed with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Nicaragua, Pakistan and Zimbabwe have remedied the strategic deficiencies in their respective AMl/CFT regimes and no longer pose a significant AMl/CFT threat to the international financial system. Taking into account their relevance under the revised methodology, the Commission considers that these jurisdictions no longer have strategic deficiencies in their respective AMl/CFT frameworks and do not pose a significant threat to the financial system of the European Union.” As a consequence of the said measure, the “obligated Entities” in EU member states would no longer be required to apply “Enhanced Customer Due Diligence” while dealing with individuals and legal entities established in Pakistan. The “obligated Entities” include (a) credit institutions, (b) financial institutions and (c) the natural or legal persons acting in the exercise of their professional activities. The list of persons includes auditors, external accountants and tax advisors.
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