Contempt of parliament bill tabled in NA

The treasury and the opposition in the National Assembly joined ranks on Tuesday to prevent the contempt of parliament through legislation proposed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member Rana Qasim Noon.

During the session, chaired by Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Noon moved ‘The Contempt of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) Bill 2023’, aimed at punishing those involved in the contempt of parliament or a committee or breach of privilege of a house or a member.

The government and opposition members, including Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, opposed the immediate approval of the bill and asked the chair to send it to the Standing Committee to Law and Justice for further deliberations.

“Only parliament has the power to amend the Constitution and enact legislation,” Tarar told the house. “While interpreting the Constitution, the institutions must keep into consideration the authority of parliament,” he added.

Minister of State for Law and Justice Shahadat Awan said that the house must adopt a proper procedure to unanimously pass this important bill. “The standing committee will further fine-tune the bill and remove any lacunae,” he added.

Appreciating the opposition lawmaker for introducing “such an important bill in the house”, the minister of state said that it would help establish the writ of parliament. He urged other state institutions to work within their constitutional domains.

Opposition Leader Raja Riaz said that as it was a matter of parliament’s prestige and supremacy therefore, there was no need for referring the bill to the committee. However, the mover agreed to calls for sending the bill to the committee.

Later, speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf referred the bill to the house Standing Committee on Law and Justice for further deliberation. The speaker directed the committee to report back to the house within seven days.

Meanwhile, several lawmakers from both sides of the divide expressed their views on the bill. Shaikh Rohale Asghar of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) proposed to the speaker to take consent of the house instead of forwarding it to the committee.

PML-N’s Javed Latif said the bill was the voice of the house and sought the speaker’s ruling on it. He said that the policy of “forget and move ahead” would no longer work. He urged the institutions to seek guidance from parliament.

Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said amendments to the law was the need of the hour. “The bill should be passed without any further delay. There is no logic in sending it to the committee,” he added.

Independent member Aslam Bhootani termed the bill a historic one. Abdul Akbar Chitrali of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) said, “We must keep our house in order instead of inviting a third party to get involved in the affairs of Parliament”.

Sabir Kaimkhani of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Muhammad Hashim Notezai of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) and the PPP’s Nafisa Shah and the PTI’s Sardar Riaz Mazari supported bill.

PTI’s Mohsin Leghari. PML-N’s Mehnaz Akber Aziz and Sheikh Fayyazud Din opined that the bill should not be given a blind approval and it should be sent to the committee for further consideration.

(WITH INPUT FROM APP)