Opposition parties in the Senate failed to block a bill to amend tax laws

ISLAMABAD: Opposition parties in the Senate failed to block a bill to amend tax laws.

The bill raised technical objections from the opposition and demanded a vote in the House to decide whether it was acceptable.

After that, a copy of the Tax Law Amendment Bill 2020 was finally presented by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Prime Minister Swati, to the House of Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

Sherry Rehman, the parliamentary leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, was the first member who objected to the bill, saying it was not a bill but an ordinance. ۔

Senator Azam Swati said that the ordinance was enacted on December 28, 2019, when the parliament was not in session, after which the ordinance was presented in the National Assembly as a mini bill from which it reached the Senate.

Senate Leader of the Opposition Raja Zafarul Haq had said that the opposition wants to repeal the bill, which Swamy insisted was wrong with the methodology adopted for the bill.

On which Leader of the House Senator Shibli Faraz read Article 89 (3) (a) of the Constitution, "the ordinance presented in the National Assembly shall be considered as a bill presented in the National Assembly".

He added that the bill was first introduced in the National Assembly, after which it was sent to the Senate on January 30.

Shibli Faraz added that the bill will now be forwarded to the House Committee for Finance, which is not binding on the National Assembly.

Raja Zafar-ul-Haq said that there was some confusion and the chairman asked the Senate to allow the House to decide the bill.

Shibli Faraz said there was no question of presenting her in the House, and asked the opposition if the government was violating any law.

Sherry Rehman objected to the bill's title, saying it did not show that the document was a bill, so let the House decide whether it was acceptable or not.

Shibli Faraz wondered why the opposition leaders were being interrupted 'perhaps because of their numerical majority'.

Swamy criticized the head of the House for prolonging the debate, saying, "I am not challenging the chair's authority but it is totally wrong".

Later, the bill was submitted to the Committee on Finance, which will submit its report within 10 days, while the opposition leaders have lamented that this is a wrong procedure and a violation of the constitution.