ISLAMABAD: The Contempt of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) Bill, 2023 was introduced in the National Assembly on Tuesday aimed at awarding a punishment of six months, a fine to the extent of Rs10 million or both if someone was found guilty of committing contempt against the house or its committee.
Rana Qasim Noon, a dissident Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member who is also chairman of the NA standing committee on rules of procedure and privileges tabled the bill titled, “Contempt of “Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) Bill, 2023”, and called for immediate passage of the bill.
The contempt of parliament law would empower the house through its speaker to punish any person, persons, or entity that commits disrespect to parliament by their action.
The bill would authorise parliament to summon any government or state official for insulting it and suggests a six-month imprisonment and fine of Rs 10 million.
The draft for the bill has been prepared in light of the prevailing laws in Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and Sindh.
After discussion, NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf referred the bill to the concerned standing committee of the house for further deliberation with directives to report back to the house within seven days.
According to clause three of the bill: “Contempt and grounds for contempt. - (l) A person is said to have committed contempt of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) if he is found to have: (a) wilfully breached the privilege of a member, a House or a Committee, in any manner whatsoever it may be; (b) wilfully violated any law guarantying the immunities or privileges of the members; (c) wilfully failed or refused to obey any order or direction of a House or a Committee thereof; (d) refused to give evidence or recorded false statement before a Committee; (e) attempted or influenced a witness either by intimidation, threat or use of force to prevent him from providing evidence, producing documents or appearing before the Committee; and (f) failed to provide any documents or submitted tempered documents before House or a Committee thereof.”
The clause five of the bill described as “The Speaker shall within thirty days of the commencement of this Act, constitute a Contempt Committee for the purposes mentioned in this Act. The Contempt Committee shall consist of twenty-four members having equal representation from each House.
The Contempt committee shall have fourteen members from the Treasury Benches, duly nominated by the Leader of the House including seven Members from each House and ten from the opposition Benches, five from each House duly nominated by the Leader of the Opposition of each House. The Contempt Committee shall have power to declare any of the proceedings before it as in camera.”
According to clause eight of the bill, “Power to award punishment. House, on recommendations of the committee, shall have the power to award any of the punishments prescribed under this Act: Provided that the decision of the House shall be the decision of the majority of members present and voting.”
The clause nine of the bill described that “Punishment. - Whoever is found guilty of contempt of a House or a Committee thereof under section 3, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or with fine which may extend to ten million rupees or with both.”
According to objects and reasons of “The Contempt of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) Bill, 2023” the bill aims at condemning and awarding punishment for the actions that accounts for breach of the sovereignty and integrity of the prestigious House of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) in any from or shade.”
Speaking on this occasion, the Opposition leader in NA Raja Riaz, who is also a PTI dissident, said that it is a matter of parliament’s prestige, which should be passed without referring it to the committee. He questioned: “how a judge should sit and decide on the bill and, if necessary, cut off the head with a sword”, adding the bill should be approved without any delay.
However, the state minister for law and justice, Shahadat Awan, proposed the bill should be discussed in the committee to further strengthen it.
The minister for parliamentary affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi seconded Awan, saying the bill should be sent to the committee for one day. Sheikh Rohail Asghar criticised the ministers for referring the bill to the committee, saying why the bill is being sent to the committee in the first place, especially if it did not require committee review.
Abdul Akbar Chitrali emphasized the importance of the parliament as the supreme institution representing the people.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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