Joint sitting to take up ‘contempt of parliament’ bill

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar informed a National Assembly panel on Tuesday that tweaks proposed for the Contempt of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) Bill, 2023 would be discussed during the joint session of parliament.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges, chaired by Muhammad Afzal, convened to address issues related to legislative procedures and the recent presidential objections to the contempt of parliament bill.

Committee member Rana Qasim Noon, who introduced the bill last year, expressed strong criticism of the former president Dr Arif Alvi for rejecting a law approved by both houses of Parliament. “The former president insulted the parliament by returning a law passed by both houses,” he said.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar clarified that lawmaking is a right of both houses of Parliament. However, he noted, “The President has the authority to object to a law under Article 75.”

He further explained, “The former president sent the contempt of parliament bill back to a joint session with objections. We will consult on it within this committee before the joint session.”

“Laws to prevent contempt of the respective assemblies exist in the Punjab Assembly and other provincial assemblies, but no such law exists for the National Assembly,” Rana Qasim Noon said.

The meeting also reviewed proposed amendments by PPP member Dr Nafisa Shah regarding public petitions. She proposed changes to Assembly Rules 295 and 296, emphasising the importance of public petitions in democratic systems.

“In many countries, including the UK, Australia, the European Union, and India, citizens have the right to submit public petitions,” Dr Shah noted.

She advocated for allowing citizens, groups, and institutions to submit petitions to the speaker, who would then forward them to the relevant standing committees.

“As long as the petitions remain in the public interest and not personal, it won’t open a floodgate of requests,” Law Minister Tarar said.