The Senate on Friday passed the Code of Criminal Procedure Amendment Bill after a very brief debate as most of the opposition members, except senator Farooq H. Naek and Professor Ghafoor Ahmad, were not willing to go into 'clause by clause' discussion.
The bill, which was aimed at further amending the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, had already been passed by the National Assembly.
Senator Farooq H. Naek of the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) opposed the bill called, "The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2004" and said that the problem was not with the law. The implementation of laws had always been a serious problem, he said.
He compared the bill with Qisas and Diyyat laws, which were misused but gave no relief to the masses.
Professor Ghafoor Ahmad of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) suggested that the judge dealing with the cases as incorporated in the amendment bill should be first class magistrate instead of magistrate.
However, Leader of the House Wasim Sajjad, who tabled the bill on behalf of Law, Justice and Human Rights Minister Muhammad Wasi Zafar opposed the suggestions of the opposition and asked Acting Chairman Khalilur Rahman, who presided over the session, to put the bill for voting.
Conducting the vote in "ayes and nays" the chair ruled that the amendment bill stands 'passed' as the House managed to finish just four items put on orders of the day other than recitation from the Holy Quran.
Meanwhile, Standing Committee on Foreign, Kashmir and Northern Areas Affairs Chairman Mushahid Hussain Syed presented the report on the recent Indian general elections and their impact on Pakistan-India relations.
Chaudhry Muhammad Anwar Bhinder, chairman, Functional Committee on Government Assurances, presented first report of the committee on the implementation of the assurances given by the government on the floor of the House.
The acting chairman also referred to an adjournment motion regarding compulsory retirement of six employees of Pakistan Steel Mills to the standing committee of the House. Senator Safdar Abbasi presented the adjournment motion on behalf of Senator Mian Raza Rabbani and others.
He said that the management of the Pakistan Steel was sent on forced retirement which, he termed, sheer violation of the rules. After brief debate, the chair referred the motion to the standing committee of the House to probe the matter.
Before referring the issue to the standing committee, Wasim Sajjad said that the opposition senators should wait for response of the concerned minister. However, the opposition did not accept his assertion.
On a point of order, Senator Ishaq Dar of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) said that the puzzle tables being provided to the children by the PIA flights were carrying the picture of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. There was always a danger that parts of the picture fall on the floor, which, is desecration of the picture of Quaid-e-Azam. This must be stopped, he demanded.
The chair instructed the leader of the house to raise the issue with the defence minister and PIA management.
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