Pakistan people’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has decided to challenge the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) (Amendment) Bill passed by the Senate in court.
According to the 24News HD TV channel, the PPP chairman has started consultancy with the party’s financial, legal and constitutional experts.
The PPP sources said Bilawal Bhutto will also consult the party’s senior-most leaders and prominent lawyers Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan and Sardar Latif Khan Khosa regarding this.
Yesterday the Senate approved the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill with a razor-thin majority amid pandemonium fueled by Opposition cries of foul and demands for the prime minister’s resignation.
As many as 43 votes were cast in favour of the bill and 42 against it, already passed by the National Assembly.
Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani’s decisive vote proved a catalyst for the government side when the senators exercised their right about the motion to present the bill for approval. As many as 43 votes were polled in motion’s favour while the same number opposed it.
The Senate passed the SBP Act, 1956 [The State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill 2022 after clause-by-clause reading with majority vote amid opposition’s noisy protest.
The bill, tabled by Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Train, was passed through the vote count. The bill sailed through a majority vote of 43 against 42.
Earlier, the motion on the bill was passed with a tie-breaking vote of Chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani as both treasury and opposition benches’ votes were 43 each.
The bill, already passed by the National Assembly on January 13, 2022, was aimed at providing for the constitution of the SBP to achieve domestic price stability by regulating the monetary and credit system of Pakistan and, without prejudice to this primary objective.
Regretting that never ever in his life had he seen such a disrespect being shown towards the Senate, another PPP senator Farooq H. Naek requested Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to suspend the session.
He was of the opinion that the SBP bill could not be part of the agenda for a period of one month.   
Members of the opposition parties also kept chanting slogans, tore copies of the bill and even laid siege to chairman Sanjrani's dais to register their protest.  
Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl accused the government of compromising on the country’s economy for the sake of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Later, it came to light that Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Umar Farooq Kasi had left the Senate hall prior to the voting on the SBP Amendment Bill, thus dealing a decisive blow to the opposition’s bid to foil passage of the bill. 
Other opposition leaders namely Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, Nuzhat Sadiq, Senator Shafiq Tarin and Senator Talha Mehmood were also absent. 
The much-talked-about ‘Dilawar Khan’ group voted in favour of the government-sponsored bill.
 Earlier, the SBP Amendment Bill was included in the eight-point agenda of the Senate meeting, which was issued late Thursday night, at the eleventh hour.  
The SBP bill was related to the autonomy of the State Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditions.
The National Meteorology Institute of Pakistan Bill was also be tabled in the Upper House of the parliament for its approval.

Reporter: Fasih Ullah