Upper house of parliament. PHOTO: FILE
The bill, which is due to lapse on June 4 as per rules, was moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Azam Swati on behalf of the law minister. It was opposed by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) senators Sherry Rehman and Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar.
They said the lawmakers were not given enough time to study the bill before introducing it in the house and even that on the same day when a standing committee had presented its report on the legislation.
Standing Committee on Law and Justice Chairman Muhammad Javed Abbasi, who belongs to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), prepared the report for the upper house of the parliament.
Leader of the House Shibli Faraz regretted that all opposition parties having representation in the standing committee had debated on the bill before sending it to the Senate. He alleged that the opposition had opposed the bill because of personal benefits while ignoring the convenience of the people.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Azam Khan Swati said the opposition had resorted to political point-scoring as all members present in the standing committee meetings unanimously cleared the bill.
He said around 18,000 cases were pending in the high court and litigants were suffering.
“It is the need of the hour to improve the capacity of the court for quick disposal of cases,” the minister added.
The Senate also postponed the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority Bill, 2019, which was moved by Minister of State for Housing and Works Shabbir Ali Qureshi on behalf of Housing Minister Tariq Bashir Cheema.
The opposition parties sought time to study the bill for giving necessary input.
Earlier, seven reports of different standing committees were presented in the house.
Senator Muhammad Ali Saif, on behalf of Muhammad Javed Abbasi, presented three reports dealing with the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2018 (Omission of Clause (2) of Article 30), the Capital Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the Islamabad High Court (Amendment) Bill, 2019. He also presented a report, on behalf of Standing Committee on Power Chairman Fida Muhammad, on payment to the owners of the land acquired for the Suki Kinari Hydel project.
Farooq H Naek, on behalf of Sassui Palijo, presented two reports on the working group of the Election Commission of Pakistan on e-voting for overseas Pakistani and the stopping of funds for the National Institute of Blood Diseases for poor leukemia patients.
Samina Saeed, on behalf of the chairperson of the standing committee on maritime affairs, presented a report on the non-payment of salaries to the workers of the Port Qasim Authority.
Senator Naseebullah, on behalf of chairman of the standing committee on housing and wrks, presented a report on the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority Bill, 2019.
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