ISLAMABAD: According to The News, the Senate Secretariat announced on Monday that the law pertaining to missing individuals was sent back to the National Assembly following its passage by the upper chamber of parliament with certain modifications.
According to the secretariat, neither the bill on missing individuals nor its status had changed.The bill had vanished from the Senate, according to Shireen Mazari, the human rights minister at the time, in January 2022.
During a sit-in organized by protestors in Islamabad to demand an answer from the government regarding the whereabouts of their loved ones, the subject of the missing person has come to light once more.The secretariat provided an explanation along with specific processing timelines.
The statement mentioned that the Senate chairman was accused of impeding the federal minister’s attempts to pass the law at the highest court.
It did, however, state that the Supreme Court correctly observed that it would not be proper to address the Senate chairman’s accusers. “A false impression was created in the media that the bill actually went missing and the Senate chairman or Senate Secretariat had a role in it,” stated the Senate Secretariat.
“Factual details contradicted the absurdity of the bill disappearing or the alleged interference by the chairman.
It further stated that on November 10, 2021, the bill was forwarded to the Senate in accordance with the law and the Constitution. It was mentioned that the measure was introduced in the Senate on July 29, 2022, and that the administration had the right to determine when to introduce a bill in the house by adding it to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs’ proposal for the orders of the day.
The statement made it clear that the Senate was not required to place a government measure on the agenda on its own and that the bill was submitted to the standing committee for review and report following its introduction in the house. On October 20, 2022, the Senate passed the bill,with a few changes.
“Consequently, on October 20, 2022, the bill was returned to the originating House, which is the National Assembly of Pakistan, in accordance with Clause (2) of Article 70 of the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973, and Rule 125 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 2012,” the statement said. The factual position “enunciates that the subject bill was never missing and is not pending with the Senate Secretariat,” the secretariat emphasized. Instead, as required by the Senate’s norms and the constitution, it was returned to the National Assembly following its passage in the Senate.
It was discovered that the measure was actually enacted by the National Assembly on October 21, 2022, a day after the Senate had passed it with modifications and sent it back, omitting a contentious clause that would have penalized anyone who made false complaints. According to the rules, the Senate must repass the measure after it passes the NA with amendments in order for it to become an act of parliament once the president signs it.
