An Umno minister today denied claims that gazetting the National Security Council Bill into law without royal assent is a sign of disrespect towards the royals.

Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz said the issue did not arise as there were no provisions for amendments to be made based solely on recommendations by the Conference of of Rulers.

"It is not a question of disrespect.

"There is no way to do it because it is not provided for," he told reporters during a function with underprivileged children in Sungai Besar.

Nazri also said any amendments that needed to be made could only be tabled as a new bill in the next parliament session.

The Umno Supreme Council member also hits back at critics who accused BN of disrespecting the Conference of Rulers.

"If the Conference of Rulers does not agree, we can make amendments to the Act.

"People who do not understand the procedure, they will say that we disrespect," he said.

Nazri insisted that any amendments to the Act must now be tabled and debated in both Houses, as per the standard procedure.

The former de facto law minister also reiterated that the NSC Bill became legislation in accordance with the Federal Constitution.

"Under our constitution, I have been made to understand that once both the houses have debated the Bill, with or without the royal assent, after a few (30) days it becomes law," he said.

Opposition lawmakers slammed BN for not taking into account the Conference of Rulers' recommendations for the Bill to be fine tuned.

On Feb 17 this year, the Conference of Rulers, after being briefed by attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali, felt that several provisions in the NSC Bill had to be refined.

The NSC Bill, which provides for the declaration of emergency-like conditions by a council headed by the prime minister, was passed by the Dewan Rakyat on Dec 3 last year and by the Dewan Negara on Dec 22.

It was gazetted as law on June 7.

According to the gazette, it was considered to have obtained royal assent on Feb 18 as per Clause 4A of the federal constitution.

The clause states a legislation is automatically deemed to receive royal assent 30 days after it is presented to the Conference of Rulers.