PM advises president to approve bills passed by NA, Senate

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has advised President Arif Alvi to give his assent to two bills, which have been adopted for legislation by the two houses of Parliament.

They are: 1- The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure Act, 2023, and The Lawyers Welfare and Protection Bill, 2023. The bills have been sent to the President under Article 75 of the Constitution, which reads: [75. (1) When a Bill is presented to the President for assent, the President shall, within [ten] days,— (a) assent to the Bill; or (b) in the case of a Bill other than a Money Bill, return the Bill to the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) with a message requesting that the Bill or any specified provision thereof, be reconsidered and that any amendment specified in the message be considered.]

(2) When the President has returned a Bill to the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), it shall be reconsidered by the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) in joint sitting and, if it is again passed, with or without an amendment, by the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), by the votes of the majority of the members of both Houses present and voting, it shall be deemed for the Constitution to have been passed by both Houses and shall be presented to the President, and the President shall give his assent within ten days, failing which such assent shall be deemed to have been given.]

(3) When the President has assented [or is deemed to have assented] to a Bill, it shall become law and be called an Act of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament).”

Federal Minister for Law and Justice Senator Azam Nazir Tarar, who is viewed as author of the pieces of law and piloted them in the National Assembly first and then on Thursday in the Senate, told The News that the bills were immediately consigned to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs after their passage from Senate. The ministry shared it with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and now, with the advice of the Prime Minister, the bills are lying before the President.

The minister said that since the bills are straight and the legislation is for the benefit of the legal community and streamlining of the apex court’s working, the President hopefully would not hesitate in giving his assent forthwith. Senator Tarar said in case President shows reluctance in giving his assent for such simple bills, the government has options to get them passed through the joint sitting of the two houses. Once these would get through from the two houses, they would become part of the book immediately as per the provision in the Constitution, he added.