The Senate remained divided on the restoration of Friday as weekly holiday amid procedural controversy when presiding officer ruled a private member bill as rejected after it was opposed by the House, which sought amendment in the Constitution in this regard.
A heated debate was witnessed in the House when Hafiz Rashid Ahmad moved to introduce a bill 'The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2010' that sought amendment in Article 270AA of the Constitution, which was not opposed by Minister for Communication Arbab Alamgir Khan in the absence of Law Minister Babar Awan who earlier announced that all the bills enlisted in the agenda would not be opposed by the government.
The formal assent to the bill enraged the ANP and MQM members who were of the view that the decision of declaring Friday as weekly holiday would harm the interests of business community. But the House rejected the motion, seeking leave to introduce the bill amidst confusion whether a private member bill can only be opposed by the minister or the members as well. The chair did not grant permission for referring the bill to the committee, which led to another controversy. He instead of referring the bill to the relevant committee for further deliberations opted to move a motion before the house for taking its sense on the bill.
But Mian Raza Rabbani while referring to the rules said that a private member bill can only be opposed by the minister and when the bill is not opposed then it should have been referred to the committee until the House discusses the bill. Leader of the House Nayyar Hussain Bokhari also endorsed the view of Rabbani, saying that the bill should have been referred to the committee concerned after the government did not oppose it.
Ilyas Bilour and Haji Adeel, who strongly opposed the bill, were of the view that the economy of the country was already suffering and it could not afford three-day cut off from the rest of the world in case Friday is declared as weekly holiday. However, the mover backed by Professor Khurshid, Allama Sajid Mir and Professor Ibrahim and pressed the chair for referring the bill to the committee concerned, as the government did not oppose it.
But chair had already given a ruling for the dismissal of the bill, though it was against the rules of procedure. Amidst a controversy and opposing views by the senators, the chair as a way out however reserved the ruling over its previous ruling of not granting permission to send the bill to the committee concerned.
The House also referred two other bill including "The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2010" and "The Control of Prices of Essential Commodities and Price-hike Bill, 2010" to the concerned committees for further deliberations. Meanwhile in a report presented in the House, it was informed that as many as 35 female prisoners are still languishing in Adiala jail due to the non-availability of money required to fulfil legal formalities despite serving the sentence period.
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