Clearing the air, caretaker Law Minister Ahmad Irfan Aslam on Sunday said that Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2023 were not received by his ministry from the Aiwan-e-Sadr (President’s House).
Earlier today, President Arif Alvi made a startling revelation denying signing the two important bills, claiming that his staff “undermined” his orders.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, the president wrote: “I asked my staff to return the bills unsigned within the stipulated time to make them ineffective. I confirmed from them many times that whether they have been returned & was assured that they were.”
“As God is my witness, I did not sign Official Secrets Amendment Bill 2023 & Pakistan Army Amendment Bill 2023 as I disagreed with these laws.”
Read more: President Arif Alvi denies signing Official Secret Act & Army Amendment Act bills
Addressing a press conference, the law minister said: “The president thought he returned the bills.” The amendment bills, in fact, were not received by the law ministry from the president, he added.
“A bill will become law, in case it is not signed by the president within 10 days as it will be deemed to have been granted his assent,” he added.
