How come a bill gone missing after parliamentary approval, Senator Irfan Siddiqui asks NA Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf

ISLAMABAD, August 10 (SABAH): Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Senator Irfan Siddiqui on Thursday demanded inquiry into how come a bill had gone missing when sent for presidential assent.

“This is a mockery of legislative process,” Senator Irfan Siddiqui said in a letter sent to Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf.

The Senator asked the NA Speaker to order an inquiry on how a bill that was approved by both houses of the parliament had gone missing when sent to the president for assent.

The letter also asked the National Assembly Speaker to identify the culprits behind the act. The PML-N leader said that the NA Speaker still holds the constitutional position despite the fact that the assembly has been dissolved after completion of its term.

“It has been 14 months that there is no clue about the whereabouts of the bill,” he said.

Senator Irfan Siddiqui asked the Speaker to once again send the bill to the president for assent.

Prepared by Senator Irfan Siddiqui, the bill pertains to the separation of powers between the executive and judiciary.

The bill was unanimously passed in the Senate on May 23 and then by the National Assembly on June 8, 2022. It was then sent to PM Office to be forwarded to the President for the approval on June 21.

According to the official procedure, the secretariats of the National Assembly and Senate send a bill after passage by both the houses to the ministry of parliamentary affairs which then sends it to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat.

The Prime Minister’s office transmits the bill to the Presidency for the assent of President.

But the bill has gone missing ever since it was forwarded to the president.

The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act 2022 bill sought separation of judiciary from the executive through substitution of the special judicial magistrates with judicial magistrates designated for trails of petty crimes in summary trials.

In July 2019, it would be pertinent to mention, that Senator Irfan Siddiqui was arrested, handcuffed and put behind bars under the Tenancy Act.

The victimization encouraged Senator Irfan Siddiqui to address lacunas in the existing laws that were enforced for more than 100 years.