Right of appeal to Kulbhushan: Govt tables ICJ, 2020 ordinance in NA

ISLAMABAD: The government tabled the International Court of Justice (Review and Re-consideration) Ordinance, 2020 and four other ordinances in the National Assembly on Monday.

The government wanted to table the International Court of Justice (Review and Re-Consideration) Ordinance, 2020 in the House on Thursday but it was delayed due to strong objections raised by the opposition leaders including Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Khawaja Muhammad Asif who accused the government of giving an NRO to the Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.

However, Minister for Law Farogh Naseem soon after taking oath of his office, told the House that the ordinance was promulgated to fulfill requirements of ICJ. He also said by implementing the orders of the ICJ, the Pakistan government also cut hands of India foiling its designs to move the UN Security Council.

The ordinance gives right of appeal to Kulbhushan against military court’s verdict, which sentenced him to death for carrying out terror acts in Pakistan. Other ordinances laid in the House by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan included the Companies (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, the Corporate Restructuring Companies (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, the Companies (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 and the Public Private Partnership Authority (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.

Four bills were referred to the joint sitting of Parliament for consideration and passage, as these bills were passed only by the National Assembly and not by the Senate within 90 days of laying in the Upper House.

The bills include the Islamabad High Court (Amendment) Bill, 2018, theICT Rights of Persons with Disability Bill, 2020, the Surveying and Mapping (Amendment) Bill, 2020, and the Federal Public Service Commission (Validation of Rules) Bill, 2020.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said in order to fulfill requirements of FATF and implementation on the National Action Plan, the legislation in Parliament should be carried forward with consensus. “You should move for legislation when there is consensus on bill in the standing committees concerned,” he said.

He observed the government was not serious in creating consensus in Parliament. "If you are not serious, why we should go along," he said. He said that Babar Awan also worked with the PPP government and he knew the whole process.

However, Babar Awan said the government also wanted to create consensus with the opposition with regard to the legislative business. But, he said, in order to fulfill legislative requirements, the bills have to be moved in two houses of Parliament.