Punjab PA laments ‘judicial intervention’

Demands action against May 9 perpetrators

LAHORE:

The Punjab Assembly on Monday passed a resolution with majority vote against ‘judicial intervention in executive matters’.

The house demanded that all institutions must do their work while confining themselves to their jurisdictions, claiming that the country had already faced irreparable losses and now it could not afford such a practice.

The assembly urged the judiciary to stop hearing political cases that did not fall under judicial purview, terming it tantamount to stopping the executive from fulfilling its constitutional responsibility through such cases.

Another resolution adopted by the assembly demanded strict punishments for those involved the May 9 riots last year.

The house also backed a ban on the use of plastic bags.

The session’s proceedings remained heated and at one point the assembly security staff were summoned into the house. The  security officials formed a cordon around Deputy Speaker Zaheer Iqbal Channar to avoid any untoward incident when opposition members started protesting over lack of acceptance of their demand to summon the inspector general of police (IGP) before the committee concerned over misconduct of police officials with lawmakers and political workers.

The treasury and opposition lawmakers were at loggerheads over summoning the IGP. Opposition members claimed that police officials were still humiliating them and disgracing their families.

As the proceedings commenced, Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) lawmaker Rana Aftab, on a point of order, protested against the police’s conduct in foiling a farmers’ convention in Sargodha.

He said there had been a lot of complaints of the police maltreating lawmakers and their workers despite the Constitution allowing them to assemble for peaceful activities.

The deputy speaker assured the opposition members of seeking a report from the IGP over their reservations.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman said he had contacted IGP Usman Anwar and the report would be shared with the house.

However, the opposition demanded adjournment of the house until the IGP appeared before it.

Opposition members created pandemonium, tore up the agenda’s copies and staged a sit-in before the chair of the speaker.

Later, they continued to point out the quorum.

However, the treasury succeeded in showing the required attendance whenever the quorum was pointed out.

The opposition members also boycotted the proceedings for some time.

Iftikhar Ahmad Chachar from treasury benches presented the resolution demanding that all institutions must do their work confining themselves to their jurisdiction.

He said there was a history wherein judicial intervention had taken the country to the edge of destruction. He said the country could not afford further irreparable losses.

He said Pakistan had come into its existence 77 years ago and 51 years had passed under the Constitution but till now a decision had not been made over how parliament, the executive and the judiciary were to work within their limits. After a short spell, any of the institutions, following its wishes and whims, started intervening in other institutions.

He said there was a history of intervention by the judiciary in executive matters in the garb of judicial activism, including suo motu notices.

The resolution stated that the house was of the view that the courts should refrain from hearing such political cases that did not fall under judicial review as the executive is stopped from rendering its constitutional responsibility through such cases. All institutions must do their work confining themselves into their jurisdiction so that Pakistan could be steered out from prevailing crises, it added.

Istehqam-e-Pakistan Party’s (IPP) Shoaib Siddiqi presented the resolution demanding that the judiciary penalise the perpetrators of the May 9 riots.