The opposition failed to block the tax laws amendment bill in the Senate

ISLAMABAD: The opposition parties in the upper house (Senate) failed to block the tax law amendment bill.

The opposition raised technical objections to the said bill and demanded a plebiscite in the House to decide its admissibility.

After which the copy of the Tax Law Amendment Bill 2020 was finally presented in the House by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Azam Swati on behalf of the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Finance Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh.

The parliamentary leader of Pakistan People’s Party Sherry Rehman was the first member who objected to the bill saying that it is not a bill but an ordinance. .

On this, Senator Azam Swati said that the Ordinance was enacted on 28 December 2019 when the Parliament was not in session and later this Ordinance was presented as a Money Bill in the National Assembly from where it reached the Senate.

Leader of Opposition in the Senate Raja Zafarul Haq said that the opposition wants to reject the bill to which Azam Swati insisted that there is no flaw in the procedure adopted for the bill.

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

He further said that the said bill was first presented in the National Assembly after which it was sent to the Senate on January 30.

Shibli Faraz further said that this bill will now be sent to the Finance Committee of the House for suggestions, which is not binding on the National Assembly.

However, on this, Raja Zafarul Haque said that there is some confusion and demanded the Chairman Senate to let the House decide on the bill.

Shibli Faraz said that there is no room for any question regarding presenting it in the House, so I ask the opposition that if the government is violating any law, it should be told.

Meanwhile, Sherry Rehman objected to the title of the bill, saying that it does not indicate that the document is a bill, so let the House decide whether it is admissible or not.

Shibli Faraz, however, wondered why the opposition leaders were obstructing ‘perhaps they are arrogant because of their numerical majority’.

Azam Swati criticized the speaker for prolonging the debate and said, “I am not challenging the authority of the chair but it is completely wrong”.

Later, the bill was presented in the House and sent to the Committee on Finance, which will submit its report in 10 days, while the opposition leaders kept shouting that it is a wrong procedure and a violation of the Constitution.