ISLAMABAD: The president’s decision to promulgate eight ordinances in a single day has been challenged in the court.
The plea filed in the Islamabad High Court by Barrister Mohsin Nawaz Ranjha, a member of the national assembly, who belongs to the Pakistan Muslim League-N, states that the petition’s sole objective is to “strengthen the institution of the parliament whose powers have been usurped.”
It further adds that the president signed into law eight ordinances on October 30, even though he was aware that a senate session was scheduled for November 5 and the national assembly was to meet two days later on November 7. The schedule of the two houses, the petitioner said, is prepared one month in advance.
“Without waiting for these upcoming sessions of the parliament, the president rushed to promulgate eight ordinances in a single day.”
Since coming to power, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government has passed eight laws through the parliament and the senate, but issued 19 ordinances to date.
“The impugned ordinances are not a one-off case of abuse of ordinance-making power,” Ranjha added, “It appears that the respondents have adopted ordinance-making as the normal and routine method of legislation, avoiding parliamentary law-making as far as possible.”
The respondents are the president, the principal secretary to the prime minister and the secretary law.
