MARDAN, Aug 8: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Hussein Ahmed has said that Supreme Court judges may be authorized to offer on advice or suggestions on an issue but they cannot stop a governor or any other person from signing a bill.

The Jamaat leader made this observation while addressing party workers at Madressah Tafhimul Quran on the Malakand road here.

His remarks came in response to a Supreme Court ruling on the Hasba bill, which was passed by the NWFP Assembly in the last week of July. The court declared some clauses of the bill “unconstitutional” and asked the NWFP governor not to sign it.

Mr Ahmed said the governor was neither authorized to reject the bill nor could he refuse to ratify it.

However, he said, the governor could send it back to the legislature, but, if the assembly returned it to him, he was bound to sign it.

Mr Ahmed criticized the ongoing raids by security officials on religious madressahs and schools and termed the action “illegal and unethical”.

He said that a grand conference of ulema would be held in Balochistan and a conference would be held in Islamabad against the raids on religious madressahs.

The Jamaat leader mentioned that in these conferences a protest and an agitation movement would be chalked out against the government.

On this occasion, he also advised students who had passed religious courses from the Tafhimul Quran that they should come out against nationalism and work for an Islamic society and religion.

He requested them to refrain from factionalism and sectarianism as the founder of the Jamaat, Maulana Maudoodi, had laid the party’s foundation on the grounds that it would work against nationalism, sectarianism and groupings.