ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023 – which was returned without assent by President Alvi two days ago, will be passed in a joint session of Parliament on Monday (today).
Federal Minister for Law and Justice Senator Azam Nazir Tarar will first place the bill in the House for consideration and then approval. Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf will preside over the meeting.
The bill is expected to pass the joint session easily and will be sent to the President for assent later in the afternoon along with the Prime Minister’s advice.
Both points are provided as part of the agenda released by the National Assembly Secretariat on Sunday.
PTI members will also attend the meeting and try to make their presence felt.
Parliamentary sources told The News Sunday that the bill will become a mandatory part of the books on the evening of April 19 even if the President does not give his assent before then.
Monday, April 10, will see a flurry of activity in three adjoining buildings on Constitution Avenue in front of historic D Square.
Apart from the Parliament House, in the premises of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandyal will hear the curative reference against the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, Qazi Faiz Isa, which has been withdrawn by the government.
The Chief Justice, ignoring the decision of the three-member bench headed by Justice Qazi Faiz Isa, has constituted new benches of the court and has banned the formation of benches until rules are framed for this purpose. It is to be seen how many judges follow the orders of Justice Jesus.
Another interesting aspect will also be seen regarding Supreme Court Registrar Ishrat Ali. He was recalled by the federal government last week and ordered to report to the Establishment Division, but he is approaching the court.
The third building behind the Parliament House is the President’s House where, according to the ruling parties, conspiracies are taking place regarding various crises.
The National Assembly will meet in the morning followed by a commemorative gathering to mark the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the 1973 Constitution.
In the afternoon, the most important joint meeting of the two houses of the Parliament will be held. All three events will be held in the auditorium of the National Assembly.
The National Assembly, under the leadership of Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, is all set to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Constitution, a landmark document that laid the foundation for a democratic and progressive society in the country.
According to the NA Secretariat, the month-long series of events starting from April 10 will commemorate the founding principles of federal parliamentary democracy, social justice and equality enshrined in the constitution.
The Parliamentary Advisory Committee, formed by the Speaker under the chairmanship of Senator Raza Rabbani, has planned these activities in collaboration with members of both houses of Parliament.
The Speaker will inaugurate the ceremonies by laying the foundation stone of the Constitution Memorial at a site approved by the Committee in front of the Parliamentary Lodges, Islamabad, which will serve as a permanent reminder of the importance of the Constitution in the country’s history.
After that, wreaths will be laid at the memorial of these heroes of democracy in Parliament House, in which respect will be paid to those who fought for democracy and constitution in Pakistan.
The speaker will open an exhibit featuring rare photographs of the framers of the Constitution, a commemorative postage stamp, and displays of the original Constitution and other manuscripts.
The celebration will culminate in the National Assembly Session (National Constitutional Convention) in the Central Assembly Hall, which will be attended by Members of Parliament and people from all walks of life, presided over by the Speaker.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Raza Rabbani and others present will pay tribute to the framers of the Constitution and reflect on how it has served as the foundation of democracy, justice and equality in Pakistan.
In the meeting, recognition of the Constitution as a binding document, inclusion of it in the National Curriculum, tributes to the framers of the Constitution and declaration of the State Bank of Pakistan building (Old National Assembly Hall) as the National Assembly. Several resolutions related to giving will also be passed. Monument
Meanwhile, the country quietly marked the first anniversary of PTI chairman Imran Khan’s ouster as prime minister on Sunday, amid a political, constitutional and judicial crisis.
The current ruling coalition removed him from office. There is not much to be happy about except that it saved the country from an imminent default if the previous government had been in power for a few more weeks.
The deal struck by Imran with the IMF was called a “bobby trap” or a “land mine” by the new administration.
The deal hit the economy so hard that prices rose unsustainably, which discredited the new rulers because it taxed the common man.
Months of political uncertainty came to an end a year ago around midnight when a marathon session of the National Assembly passed a no-confidence motion against then Prime Minister Imran Khan and threw him out.
All PTI leaders, apart from the Leader of the House and the 22nd Prime Minister, were present in the Lower House of Parliament to witness the event.
He became the first Prime Minister in the country’s history to be removed by Parliament through a vote of no confidence.
The sad aspect of the whole incident was that Tehreek-e-Insaf resorted to undemocratic tactics and distorted the constitution to avoid the no-confidence motion.
In the first phase, a Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, who was disqualified by the Election Tribunal for rigging the elections, rejected the no-confidence motion without seeking the will of the House.
The Leader of the House advised President Arif Alvi to immediately dissolve the National Assembly, who immediately obliged him. The entire process was completed in less than an hour.
The Supreme Court intervened and a recount was made possible after the restoration of the National Assembly after a vigorous struggle.
Imran could not complete four years in government, because the country’s history is plagued by political instability. Till date, no Prime Minister has been removed from office by no-confidence motion. With its promise of “rebuilding and reviving Pakistan”, the PDM suffered a setback when the PPP and the ANP parted ways with it within months of its existence. The PDM won back both parties in the last months of 2021 and managed to achieve its immediate goal.
Since then, PTI has been pursuing an agenda of destroying stability and the government is trying hard to pull the country out of economic crisis.
The whole year witnessed a tug-of-war between the two and coincidentally Imran failed to achieve all his objectives including appointing his preferred army chief, early general elections and making Pakistan default like Sri Lanka.
The PDM leadership is not enthusiastic about celebrating the anniversary of Imran’s ouster but recalled that PPP Chairman Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had congratulated the entire nation and the House on Victory Day, “as This has happened for the first time in history. In the country, the no-confidence motion succeeded and we made history, claiming that the “Selected” who had proven themselves to be an “undemocratic burden” on the country saw the end of their rule.
Bilawal said that democracy is the best revenge. Muslim League (N) leader Talal Chaudhry, who has served as Minister of State for Home Affairs, on Sunday congratulated the nation for “getting rid of the PTI regime”.
“I congratulate you for getting freedom from those who have emptied the national treasury and starved the nation,” he said.
“I wish you a year of media freedoms, freedom from cruel poachers who steal wheat, sugar, ghee, medicine, fertiliser, electricity and gas from thieves,” he added.
Ironically, however, all the sins Chaudhry accused the PTI of raising against the coalition government as the ousted party termed it a “year of authoritarian fascism”.
In a series of tweets, the PTI lamented the “failures” of the current government.
PTI leader and former federal minister Shereen Mazari said that ‘fascism being spread since last year is unacceptable and people have repeatedly sent this clear message to the imported government and its handlers’. On the other hand, PTI General Secretary Asad Umar praised the government’s failure to deal with the country’s economic problems.
Asad, who was unceremoniously removed from the finance ministry by his mentor Imran after a few months, has claimed that “never in the history of Pakistan has the growth rate decreased tenfold in one year, as much as a change of government.” “There is a conspiracy,” he said.
