Chairman reserves ruling: Senators term passage of CCP Bill unconstitutional

Chairman Senate Farooq H. Naik on Monday reserved ruling on the issue raised by lawmakers pertaining to amendment to Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) through Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Bill 2010 by the Senate on the ground that it is a provincial subject after the passage of 18th Constitutional Amendment.
The Senate had recently passed the Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Bill 2010 with consensus aimed at bringing changes in the Code of Civil Procedure 1908, which had already been passed by the NA before passage of the 18th Amendment Bill. The bill has now been sent to the President for his assent and Senators sought its return sans singing of the President. PML-N Senator Syed Zafar Ali Shah pointed out that the bill passed by the Senate after passage of the 18th Amendment is against the Constitution.
Senator Mian Raza Rabbani stated that since the issue relating to Code of Civil Procedure is now a provincial matter after the passage of 18th Amendment, hence, Senate has no authority to amend the same. The Senators asked the chairman to take back the Bill from Presidency, which has been sent to there for President's approval. However, the chairman reserved his ruling on the issue without saying anything in this regard.
Veteran Senator and Chairman Constitutional Committee Raza Rabbani asked the leader of the House Syed Nayyar Bokhari to tell the Prime Minister, who would direct the civil servants in different departments to go through the amendments thoroughly before presenting them to the House whether the amendments are according to the Constitution and law. "Such steps of the government are not only the violation of rules, but have also caused embarrassment for the government," he maintained.
Senators Abdul Khaliq Pirzada, Ishaq Dar, Professor Khurshid Ahmed, Hafiz Rashid Ahmed condemned the reprinting of blasphemous caricatures of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on Internet site 'facebook'. Senator Ishaq Dar, however, told the house that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has blocked the relating sties. Some of the lawmakers also demanded to pass joint unanimous resolution condemning the act of blasphemy.