NA passes law of evidence bill

The lower house of parliament passed two different bills relating to the amendment in the Qanoon-e-Shahadat 1984 and the publication of the Holy Quran (Elimination of Printing and Recording Errors) Act,1973.

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Javed Murtaza Abbassi, on behalf of Minister for Law and Justice Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, presented the bill to the lower house and sought permission to further amend the Qanun-e-Shahadat, 1984 [The Qanun-e-Shahadat (Amendment) Bill, 2022], be passed.

Another bill was presented by Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Mufti Abdul Shakoor to further amend the publication of the Holy Quran (Elimination of Printing and Recording Errors) Act,1973 to the extent of Islamabad Capital Territory [The Publication of the Holy Quran (Elimination of Printing and Recording Errors) (Amendment) Bill, 2022].

Both the bills were passed by the speaker after taking sense of the lower house who voted in favor of the amendments.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the former prime minister, while giving the interview, said that the narrative of the American conspiracy is over and “I have left it behind”. He slammed the former premier, saying that his entire political life is on ‘U-turns’.

He said that it is time for the nation to put its hands on Imran’s neck, adding that he will have to pay a political price for his “false narrative”. “There are people who believe in the words of such frauds, Imran Khan is crying for real freedom in the long march while waiting for the umpire's finger,” he remarked.

Asif said that valuable watches from foreign countries were missing. “The coalition government has not retaliated against anyone in the last seven months, we have not imposed Article 6 on anyone as far as I am concerned,” he said.

“Asif Zardari's sister, Nawaz Sharif's daughter were put in jails; this person did not even recognise the relationship,” he added.

He said that the government was trying fix the situation left by Imran in the last seven to eight months. The defence minister said that everyone went to the flood-affected areas, but Imran did not go.

“He has a commitment with 220 million people, a lot is coming now, his cabinet was like this, a closed envelope was waved, [and people were asked to] accept it,” he continued.

Talking about the anti-America narrative, he said that Pakistan’s relations with it have had ups and downs, but they did not lay the blame at their doorstep. “He laid the blame at their doorstep. The job of politicians is to repair relations with foreign countries, not spoil them,” he added.

Asif said that Imran’s entire politics is based on lies. “A video was uploaded on social media today; it has not been decided yet whether four or six shots were fired. I pray for them, but do not play with the fate of the country,” he said.

“When no-confidence succeeded in this house, a new era began, our government was told by the former prime minister that it is an imported and fake government,” he added. “He took out a paper from his pocket and said that there was a conspiracy.”

The minister said that the PTI chief “distrusted” the votes and members of this House, and called the whole constitutional process a conspiracy,

“Now the time has come for you to pay the political price,” he added.

Mian Javed Latif said that he wants to make a request regarding the dignity of institutions. It has never happened in the world that the issue of the appointment of the head of the defence institution is discussed in the streets, he added.

“Today this person said that our forces are not independent,” he said, adding that when Imran was making foreign and interior policy, he should have done something for it.

He said that the “convicted person” is being consulted with regard to the head of the defense agency. “He should be asked how he was convicted. He wants him to remain convicted,” he remarked, adding that Imran used to say that “we are all on the same page”.

“According to you, the agencies used to be your servants,” he addressed the former premier.

“Have you seen such an environment regarding the deployment of the defence agency in 75 years? Today they say that our defence agency is not independent. If the nuclear force is with this agency, then let us know where Pakistan stands,” he continued.

“On behalf of an institution, it was said that the government should take notice, who has tied the hands and feet of the government, he has been taking decisions by highlighting the weaknesses of the heads of the institutions, NAB is also involved in this,” Latif said.

The NA session was adjourned till 5 pm on Thursday.

With additional input from APP