Senate Chairman Syed Nayyer Hussain Bokhari. PHOTO: PID
The senate on Monday sought information from the government about superior court judges who possess dual nationality – a bone of contention over the past few years.
On the first day of its new session, Senate Chairman Syed Nayyer Hussain Bokhari in a ruling asked the government to provide the House with details within two months.
Under the rules, the chairman’s ruling is considered binding. However, opposition members, who have a majority in the upper house, were unsure if the government would be able to provide the information.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Farhatullah Babar pursued this matter for the past two years. However, the higher judiciary reportedly declined to disclose the names, arguing that law did not bar dual nationals from becoming judges.
Leader of House from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Raja Zafar-ul-Haq told the House that except for the Balochistan High Court – which confirmed that none of its judges were dual nationals – no other court had responded to the House. He did not oppose the resolution, saying that it had been pending for months.
Leader of Opposition in Senate Chaudhry Aitizaz Ahsan proposed that the attorney general might be summoned to provide the requisite information.
The House also unanimously adopted another resolution by Farhatullah Babar calling upon the government to drastically amend the Official Secrets Act of 1923 and to make it consistent with the constitutionally guaranteed right to information, fair trial and fundamental rights.
Speaking on the resolution, the senator said information was withheld even from the parliament on grounds of it being secret or confidential without laying down any guidelines as to who classified a document as secret and how.
He was of the view that due to this archaic act, even a section officer could declare any document as classified without mentioning its sensitivity.
“A review of the Secrets Act has been undertaken in India recently and the government of Pakistan must also review the outdated Act and bring amendments to it before the parliament,” he said.
The House deferred another resolution – moved by PPP senator Dr Karim Khwaja – demanding the establishment of a separate constitutional court in the country to deal with matters related to the interpretation of the Constitution.
“The PPP and PML-N had pledged in 2006, under the Charter of Democracy, to set up such a court once they come to power,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 4th, 2014.
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