ISLAMABAD -UNS: President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday once again returned the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023 unsinged.
He remarked that he could not take any action on the bill as the bill and the National Assembly’s prerogative on legislation on it had been debated upon in the apex court. “It is not suitable to take any further action in respect for the court,” he added.
On April 10, a joint session of the parliament had once again passed the bill amid the opposition’s uproar after the president refused to sign it. Meanwhile, an eight-member bench of the top court stopped the implementation of the bill.
The bill, tabled by federal law minister Azam Nazir Tarar, was sent to President Dr Arif Alvi again for assent as he had, earlier, returned the bill unsigned to the parliament.
President Alvi returned the bill for reconsideration to parliament, stating that the legislation “prima-facie travels beyond the competence of the Parliament and can be assailed as a colourable legislation”.
He did this as per the provisions of the Article 75 of the Constitution days after it was sent to him for approval after it had sailed through the National Assembly and Senate amid a standoff between the government and the SC over snap elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
