ISLAMABAD: The Sen­ate Standing Committee on Law and Justice on Wednesday approved Civil Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and deferred several constitutional amendment proposals for further deliberation.

The Senate panel meeting was presided over by Senator Farooq Hamid Naek. The bill was introduced by the minister for law and justice.

The bill, already appro­ved by the National Asse­mbly, aims to alleviate the growing litigation burden on the Islamabad High Court by assigning certain cases to district courts. Se­­nator Azam Nazeer Tarar emphasised that the rising property prices in Islam­abad have contributed to an increase in appeals, making the amendment necessary to streamline the judicial process.

The committee also add­ressed the delay in notifying Senator Hamid Khan’s nomination to the board of governors of the Legal Aid and Justice Authority.

Chairman Naek directed authorities concerned to expedite the process and update the committee on its status.

The committee also discussed various constitutio­nal amendment bills, particularly the Constitu­tion (Amendment) Bill, 2024, in­­troduced by Senators Ma­­nzoor Ahmed and Danesh Kumar.

This bill proposes amen­dments to Article 51, which governs minority reserved seats in the National Assembly.

The committee reviewed findings from the 2023 population census, which showed the Christian community is largely concentrated in Punjab while the Hindu community resides predominantly in Sindh.

Chairman Naek suggested a further review of the bill based on legal frameworks and census data, with the movers requesting additional time to consider modifications.

Similarly, Senator Khalida Ateeb’s Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was deferred due to a lack of support from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and the absence of comments from other provinces.

The committee stressed that provincial input is necessary before proceeding further on the issue.

The committee also deferred Senator Aon Abbas’s Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which proposes the creation of a South Punjab province. Acknowledging the national significance of the proposal, the committee decided to seek input from all provinces before further deliberation on the issue.

Additionally, Senator Muhammad Abdul Qadir’s amendment proposal regarding Article 27, which relates to quotas, was put on hold for a review of the past Supreme Court judgments on the time limits for quota allocations.

The session was attended by Senators Syed Ali Zafar, Anusha Rahman, Ahmad Khan, Shahadat Awan, Kamran Murtaza, Khalil Tahir, Muhammad Abdul Qadir, Zakir Hussain Ghumro, Danesh Kumar, Khalida Ateeb, and Aon Abbas. State Mi­­nister Barrister Aqeel Malik and repres­e­ntatives from relevant government dep­a­rtments also attended the panel meeting.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2025