Privilege motion: NHCR chairman ordered out of panel meeting

Ali Nawaz Chohan accused of lying to avoid attending the proceedings

ISLAMABAD: After a heated exchange of words between the National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights Chairman Babar Nawaz Khan and the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) Chairman (retd) Ali Nawaz Chohan, the committee chairman ordered the NCHR chairman to unceremoniously walk out of the meeting.

The move came after a privilege motion was moved by the committee against him for being absent from its previous meeting in Lahore.

“You ‘lied’ to the committee,” said Khan, adding that the NCHR chairman had claimed that his wife was unwell, as an excuse to be away from the meeting. But later it was found out that he had been in his office during the time.

In his defence, the NCHR chairman alleged that he had not been properly heard, deeming the committee chairman ‘un-parliamentary’ conduct before exiting the meeting. He was followed by NCHR member Fazila Aliani, who walked out in protest.

Meanwhile, as some of the committee members including MNA Aliya Kamran and MNA Munaza Hassan began quizzing NCHR member Shafiq Chaudhry over the mandate, work and salaries of the commission, the committee members including the chairman were called in at the National Assembly proceedings which coincided with the time of the meeting.

The committee is expected to meet again to review
the existing law of the Human Organ Transplant on October 13.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2016.