Abdullah Malik
ISLAMABAD: Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice in its meeting discusses nine bills, out of which five were passed, two were rejected and two will be further discussed in upcoming meetings.
The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Senator Muhammad Javed Abbasi here at the Parliament House on Thursday and was attended among others by Senators Abdul Qayyum, Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah, Ghous Niazi, Zeeshan Khanzada, Ateeq Shaikh, Siraj ul Haq, Sana Jamali, Mushtaq Ahmed, Secretary Law and Justice and officials from the ministry.
The Committee discussed five private members bills.
The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2018 (Amendment of Article 27) moved by Senator Mian Raza Rabbani was rejected by the vote of majority. The Ratification of Foreign Agreements by Parliament Bill, 2018, moved by Senator Mian Raza Rabbani was also rejected by the vote of majority. Both bills were also opposed by the government.
The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (insertion of Article 253A), moved by Senator Mushtaq and The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (Amendment of Articles 213 and 215), moved by Senator Abdul Qayyum were discussed extensively and for further deliberations were deferred till the next meeting.
The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (Amendment) Bill, 2018, moved by Senator Mian Muhammad Ateeq Shaikh after gaining consensus from the government, all stakeholders and members of the committee was passed.
Four Government Bills including The Legal Aid & Justice Authority Bill, 2020, The Superior Courts (Courts Dress and Mode of Address) Order (Repeal) Bill, 2020, The Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights Bill, 2020, The Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2018 were discussed in the meeting.
The Legal Aid & Justice Authority Bill, 2020 was passed after including the provision of inclusion of two members from Parliament one from each House in the board of the authority.
The three other government bills were passed without any amendment.
Regarding the matter of sit in of the employees of the Estate Life Insurance Corporation for their demands raised, the Committee was told by Executive Director of the corporation that a committee was formed to look into the matter and the recommendations were taken to the board.
The board, however, did not agree to the proposals. The Committee decided to call Secretary Commerce to the next meeting and also directed the Executive Director to share with the committee the minutes of the board meeting.
