Punishment: Disqualify MPs who ridiculed army, says Shujaat

PML-Q chief draws attention to Article 63(g).

LAHORE:

With a constitutional article as ammo, Pakistan Muslim League (PML) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Saturday fired a warning at those ridiculing the military, saying they should be removed from Parliament.

“Those making noise over Article 6 should read Article 63(g) of the Constitution [which outlines the grounds for disqualifying parliamentarians],” he said at a grand lawyer’s convention held at the Muslim League House.

According to Article 63(g), a person shall be disqualified from being an elected member of parliament if he has been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction for propagating any opinion which defames or brings into ridicule the judiciary or the armed forces.

“Why is the government not taking legal action against ministers who have publicly admitted to speaking against the army?” he asked.

Moving on to criticising the controversial Protection of Pakistan Ordinance (PPO), Shujaat said that the first requirement of justice is that all should be treated equally without prejudice.

“We will not allow the Protection of Pakistan Bill to be passed in this form,” he said. “A legal cell has been established in the Muslim League House for providing assistance to the poor and destitute people,” he added.

Shujaat said that the large number of attendees at the event was ‘ample proof’ that PML is thriving and that the party was not defeated because of returning officers rather than votes.

He said that reports about the reorganisation of the party, as given by Punjab office-bearers after district visits, show that the party is “very much present at the grass root level.”

Shujaat welcomed Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani’s move to provide justice to lower courts as his first priority.

He expressed hope that the chief justice would practical steps to form a special cell to save the costly properties of overseas Pakistanis that have been forcibly occupied by ‘qabza groups’.

He lashed out at the present government and said, “Even the judges are saying that people are not being provided daily use articles and fundamental rights.” Citing the superior judiciary, he said in Punjab the accused were acquitted in 90 per cent cases due to the defective performance of police and prosecution teams.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2014.