KARACHI: As both the government and madressah bodies scramble to settle the issues surrounding the Societies Registration (Amendment) Bill 2024, a JUI-F leader claimed that the issue could be settled in the coming days.

Speaking to Geo News on Wednesday, Senator Kamran Murtaza said that the authorities are likely to notify the madressah registration bill “in next two days”.

A gazette notification of the madressah registration act passed in light of the 26th Constitutional Amendment likely to be issued in the next two days, the JUI-F senator said during an appearance on the TV channel.

Senator Murtaza claimed that he and Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar had finalised the draft, adding that the matter would be resolved once a notification was issued.

The development was followed by a slew of media reports claiming that the government may introduce a presidential ordinance to fill the legal gaps left after President Asif Ali Zardari returned the bill — passed by both houses of parliament — unsigned with some reservations.

Earlier, Mr Tarar had admitted before parliament that a legal complexity had been created after the president first re­­turned the bill to the NA speaker, adding that it should have been taken up by a joint sitting of parliament at the time.

However, sources in JUI-F and the Presidency denied these reports, with a spokesperson for the party saying that they were not privy to any such development.

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2024