Opposition members Samia Amjad and Mohsin Leghari proposed amendments to the draft bill but these voted down by the house.
Samia Amjad proposed a raise in the compensation proposed for the deceased and injured in road accidents. Mohsin Leghari said the law had not been amended in three years. He said the amendments outlined in the bill were unnecessary. He also said the draft should be circulated for public scrutiny.
Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said the amendment bill had been drafted after a comprehensive debate in the standing committee. He said the draft needed no changes.
Sanaullah also presented the drafts to amend the Auqaf Law, the Law of Inheritance, the Law of Property Distribution, the Child Labour Law, the Service Record Law and the Law for Printing and Recording of the Quran in the Punjab. Acting speaker Rana Mashud referred all these drafts to standing committees.
Sanaullah expressed grief over the killing of Justice Javed Iqbal’s parents and assault on lawmaker Javed Bhatti. He told the house that Justice Iqbal’s parents were strangled using a cushion. He said investigation agencies were probing the killing and the murderers would soon be brought to justice. He said that such incidents could tarnish Pakistan’s image abroad. The law minister said that he had sought a report from the police about the attack on Bhatti.
During the questions’ hour, parliamentary secretary for local government Abdul Razzaq Dillon replied to the questions.
To a question about overcharging at parking stands, the parliamentary secretary said overcharging was not possible. The parking contracts, he said, were approved in accordance with the rules and regulations. He said if an inquiry was conducted it would become clear that these stands charged no more than Rs20 to Rs30 per car.
Acting Speaker Rana Mashood formed a committee to present a report on the parking fees charged at stands in Gulberg. Earlier, Opposition member Mian Naseer had pointed out that several parking stands had been allotted without proper auctions.
Mashood formed another committee after the parliamentary secretary failed to respond to questions about the Lahore Development Authority.
These were raised by opposition member Ayesha Javed. She said several LDA officials were said to be involved in the construction of illegal plazas in Gulberg and asked for their names to be made public.
22 lawmakers caught
Twenty two members were caught playing hooky on Wednesday. Acting Speaker Rana Mashood formed a committee to probe how the attendance of these 22 members was marked when they were absent. He took notice of the matter when Law Minister Rana Sanaullah told him that 49 members were marked present while only 27 present. Mashood also ordered an inquiry against the assembly secretariat.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 13th, 2011.
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