ISLAMABAD - President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday again returned the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023 without signing to the prime minister. In a brief letter addressed to the PM, the president said that he took the decision after observing that the matter was sub judice before the apex court. The president said that it was not appropriate to proceed further on the bill as the Supreme Court was seized of the instant matter. Despite the president's refusal to sign the bill, it will become law on April 20, according to Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar. The bill was passed by both the National Assembly and the Senate last month amid a standoff between the government and the judiciary over elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, after which it was sent to the president for assent.
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However, President Alvi returned the bill for reconsideration to parliament, stating that it prima-facie "travels beyond the competence of parliament" and could be assailed as "colourable legislation". The government then got the bill passed by a joint session of parliament on April 10 despite strong protest from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), after which it was again sent to the president to sign. Under the Constitution, if the head of the state does not give his approval to a piece of legislation within 10 days of it being passed by a joint session of parliament, it would be deemed to have been given.