SC refers PCO-protected ordinances to parliament
* 37 ordinances 29 promulgated before emergency, 8 during emergency rule deemed to commence from July 31
By Irfan Ghauri
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court as part of its verdict delivered on Friday referred all ordinances protected under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) or promulgated during emergency rule to parliament for a decision on their fate.
A 14-member larger bench which declared the November 2007 emergency unconstitutional said all such ordinances would be deemed to have commenced from Friday, July 31, and asked the government to table the documents in parliament or provincial assemblies in line with the law.
The court also declared invalid the judgement in the Tikka Iqbal case, under which these ordinances were considered valid laws that did not require parliamentary approval.
According to the judgement on Friday, all these ordinances would be valid for another 120 or 90 days as mentioned in Articles 89 and 128 of the constitution.
Around 37 ordinances were promulgated by former president Pervez Musharraf from July 12, 2007, to December 14, 2007. Of these, 29 were issued before the imposition of emergency and eight during emergency rule. Among important ordinances issued before the imposition of emergency are the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) Ordinance, the Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance, the National Database and Registration Authority (Amendment) Ordinance and the National Disaster Management Authority Ordinance.
The important ordinances promulgated during emergency rule include the Islamabad High Court Ordinance and the National Command Authority Ordinance. Following the verdict delivered by the SC, the government would have to get all such ordinances validated from parliament and provincial assemblies within the stipulated period or they would lapse on expiry of their legal period, deemed to begin from July 21.
Source
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...-8-2009_pg7_27