ISLAMABAD (our reporter):- The Standing Committee of the the National Assembly on Rules of Procedure and Privileges has decided to place the draft bill of Contempt of Parliament on the floor of the House very soon,
The Committee met under the chairmanship of Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon here on Tuesday.
The committee unanimously decided to place a draft Bill of Contempt of Parliament on the said issue on the floor of the House very soon.
On the Question of Privilege raised by Dr.Nafisa Shah, MNA regarding non-maintenance of Kitchen of Parliament Lodges by Mr. Faisal Raza, Director, Parliament Lodges and Mr. Faiq Ali, Deputy Director, Parliament Lodges, CDA, Islamabad; the Committee directed the Chairman, CDA to resolve the issues of the Hon. Member and report to the Committee within fifteen days.
On the Starred Question No.3 raised by Ms. Shagufta Jumani, MNA relating to partially constructed infrastructure by CDA and the matter raised by Sheikh Rohail Asghar, MNA regarding bad condition of Parliament Lodges and MNAs Hostel, Islamabad, and the following issues, problems pertaining to the bad condition of Parliament Lodges and MNAs Hostel raised by Mr. Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training, Raja Muhammad Riaz Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Ghous Bux Khan Mahar, Mr. Muhammad Abu Bakar and Ms. Shagufta Jumani, MNA.
Implementation of previous decisions taken by the House and Library Committee of the National Assembly,
the Committee referred the issue of construction of new Block of Parliament Lodges to FIA for investigation with a report to the Committee. The Committee also referred the issue of demolishing the old servant quarter of the Parliament Lodges to FIA also for further investigation and report to the Committee. The Committee directed that Secretary M/o Finance, Additional Secretary (Budget), M/o Finance and Secretary, M/o Planning, Development and Special Initiatives should attend the next meeting of the Committee in person on the issues funds of Parliament Lodges. The Committee pended the Question of Privilege till its next meeting. The Committee also directed that compliance on the recommendations of House and Library Committee and the Privilege Committee of the National Assembly should be made in letter & spirit.
On the Question of Privilege raised by Mr. Zahid Akram Durrani, Hon. Deputy Speaker regarding allegedly disrespectful bahaviour of Dr. Muhammad Ejaz, Ambassador of Pakistan in Qattar and Mr. Masood Gul, Deputy Head of Mission/Counselor wih the Hon. Deputy Speaker; the Committee pended the Question of Privilege till its next meeting. The Committee also directed that the word (Manners) should be added in the letter No. DG (HR&CP-1/3/2023 dated 15th March, 2023 M/o Foreign Affairs.
On the Question of Privilege raised by Mr. Zahid Akram Durrani Deputy Speaker regarding allegedly misbehavior of Mr. Iftikhar Ali Shallwani, Federal Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Works, Govt of Pakistan, Islamabad with the Hon. Deputy Speaker; as the Hon. Mover withdrew his Question of Privilege therefore the Committee disposed of the Question of Privilege.
On the Question of Privilege raised by Ms. Romina Khursheed Alam, MNA regarding alleged baseless propaganda on social, print and electronic media that a 25 person delegation attended the 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) conference in Canada; the Committee pended the Question of Privilege till its next meeting. On the Question of Privilege raised by Mr. Mohsin Dawar, MNA regarding non-allowing the Hon. Member to travel abroad by the Director General, FIA and Secretary, Ministry of Interior; the Committee pended the Question of Privilege with the decision to have an in-camera meeting on this issue and directed that Secretary, M/o Interior, Secretary, M/o Foreign Affairs and Director General, FIA and Additional Director, Immigration, FIA should attend that in-camera meeting, in person.
On the Question of Privilege raised by Chaudhary Armaghan Subhani, MNA regarding non-deliver the plot to (Late) Chaudhary Abdul Sattar, former Federal Minister after lapse of 37 years by the Senate Secretariat Employees Cooperative Housing Society (SSECHS); the Committee pended the Question of Privilege with the direction that DG, FIA, Chairman, CDA and Chief Commissioner, Islamabad should conduct an inquiry on the issues of the said Society. The Committee also directed the Deputy Commissioner, Islamabad to have under his custody all the record of the said Housing Society, immediately. The Committee also directed that the FIA should seal the Bank Accounts of the said Society. The Committee also directed that D.C, Islamabad should take the Revenue Record of the said Society under his possession and report to the Committee within fifteen days.
On the Question of Privilege raised by Mr. Salahuddin, MNA regarding non-receipt of replies of the Questions No. 101 (deferred during 50th Session), 10 and 12 by Secretary, Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives on 5th April, 2023 on their Rota day without any cogent reason and non-availability of at least Grade-20 Officer of the concerned Ministry in the House during Question Hour despite repeated directions from the Chair; the Committee pended the Question of Privilege till its next meeting.
On the matter on a point of order moved by Sheikh Rohale Asghar, MNA regarding statement about Quaid-e-Azam by Mr. Oriya Maqbool Jan; the Committee pended the Question of Privilege with the direction that Mr. Oriya Maqbool Jan should be black out by PTA, FIA and PEMRA. The Committee also directed that all his programs should be off aired with a report to the Committee. The Committee also directed that penalty should be imposed by PTA, FIA and PEMRA on Mr Oriya Maqool Jan. The Committee also directed that actions should be taken against him as per Rules and Regulations with a report to the Committee within fifteen days.
On the Question of Privilege raised by Sheikh Rohail Asghar and Syed Agha Rafiullah, MNAs against different Federal Secretaries for not attending the proceedings of the National Assembly on 29th and 31st March, 2023 by Federal Secretaries of M/o Housing and Works, Industries and Production, Maritime Affairs, National Food Security and Research, National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, Railways, Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony and M/o Water Resources; the Committee discussed the matter in detail. As the replies by the representatives of Ministries of Water Resources, Maritime Affairs, Railways, National Food Security and Research and Industries and Production were satisfactory, therefore the Committee exempted their presence in the next meeting. The Committee also directed that the Secretary, M/o Parliamentary Affairs to write a letter to those Secretaries who have not attended the meeting of the Committee. The Committee expressed its displeasure against those Federal Secretaries who have not attended the meeting of the Committee. The Committee pended the Question of Privilege till its next meeting.
On the Question of Privilege raised by Syed Agha Rafiullah, MNA regarding supply of incorrect reply to his Question No. 6 included in the list of un-starred Questions for 20th May, 2022 regarding departmental promotions of Associated Press of Pakistan (APP); the Committee pended the Question of Privilege till its next meeting.
On the Question of Privilege raised by Syed Agha Rafiullah, MNA regarding re-schedule of the time of Serene Air Flight from 3:00 p.m to 9:10 p.m on Friday, the 7th April, 2023 from Islamabad- Karachi, the Committee pended the Question of Privilege till its next meeting.
On the Question of Privilege raised by Syed Ayaz Ali Shah Sherazi, MNA regarding allegedly not meeting by Mr. Nosherrwan Adil, Chief Commercial Officer, PIA, Islamabad, with the Hon. Member when he visited his office on 01-12-2022; the Committee pended the Question of Privilege till its next meeting.
On the discussion of the draft Bill regarding contempt of Parliament; the Committee unanimously decided to place a Bill on the said issue on the floor of the House very soon.
The meeting was attended by Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon, Mr. Muhammad Sajjad, Chaudhary Armaghan Subhani, Mr. Ramesh Lal, Makhdoom Syed Sami-ul-Hassan Gillani and Sardar Riaz Mahmood Khan Mazari,
The meeting was also attended by Sheikh Rohail Asghar, and Mr. Mohsin Dawar, MNAs/Movers.