Inexpensive justice: Senate finalises draft report

Also approves final recommendations

ISLAMABAD:

The Senate Committee of the Whole finalised on Wednesday the draft of a report on the provision of inexpensive and speedy justice in the country.

The meeting, presided over by Senate chairman Raza Rabbani, approved the final report along with its recommendations.

The committee considered recommendations and observations of Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, Senators Usman Khan Kakar, Azam Khan Swati and Mir Kabeer Ahmed.

Senator Aitzaz Ahsan proposed abolition of the provision of intra-court appeal within a high court and suggested a direct appeal to the Supreme Court.

Senator Mir Kabeer suggested that a high court bench may also be established in Balochistan’s Khuzdar district among other districts as earlier proposed by the committee members. The recommendations were adopted by the committee.

The Senate chairman congratulated the committee on the timely completion of the report, which he dubbed a first-of-its kind, unique and historical document.

He said the report was prepared by the open committee, as opposed to closed-door sessions and legal experts – including the chief justice of the Supreme Court – had provided their points of view as major stakeholders in the committee meetings.

In the upcoming session of Senate, the draft bills approved by the committee will be introduced by different parliamentary leaders in the Senate and subsequently referred to the National Assembly.

Senate question hour

The presidency, which is considered to be a symbol of federation, has a massive disparity when it comes to providing employment to the staff at the secretariat.

This was revealed in a reply to a question asked by Senator Agha Shahbaz Khan Durrani. A written reply was submitted by the minister in-charge of the President’s Secretariat.

At present, there are 27 employees working against the authorised strength of 312 in the President’s Secretariat, the minister added.

The province-wise breakdown of these employees shows 213 from Punjab, nine from (rural) and five from (urban) Sindh, 32 from K-P, one from Balochistan, 13 from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, one from Federally Administered Tribal Areas and one from Gilgit-Baltistan.

In a reply to a question by Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, relating to the power and gas outages as a result of theft, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said the issue of power theft is related to Ministry of Water and Power.

However, gas shortage is not due to theft of gas but because of the unaccounted for gas (UFG) that amounts to 10 per cent of the total gas.

Khaqan Abbasi referred to a study sanctioned by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority to study the system, which would decide the breakdown of theft and technical losses.

Replying to a question on natural gas stolen in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa over the last two years, he said efforts are underway and as a result there has been a decrease of 40 per cent in theft cases and a total of 490 first information reports (FIRs) have been registered in this regard.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2015.