Senate's Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Human Rights on Wednesday rejected "The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2015" seeking to revoke immunity given to the President or a Governor regarding criminal proceeding against them in any court during their term in office. The Committee met here with Senator Muhammad Javed Abbasi in the chair at Parliament House on Wednesday. The Committee discussed "The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2015,
The Federal Judicial Academy (Amendment) Ordinance 2014, The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2015, (Amendment of paragraph (h) of Article 37)," and corruption in federal government departments. Hafiz Hamdullah of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) presented two bills "The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2015, (Amendment of paragraph (h) of Article 37) in the committee meeting for discussion and passage. The second bill has been deferred.
He said that Article 248 of the Constitution was against the Holy Quran and Sunnah and preamble of the Constitution should be repealed. He said that according to Quran and Sunnah, no immunity could be given to anybody in any office regarding any criminal offences. He said that Islam does not give immunity to president or prime minister or governor or minister regarding proceeding against them in any court during their term in office.
"The Article 248 of the Constitution is against Islamic principles and in itself contradicts the Constitution," he said. An officer of Higher Education Commission present in the meeting said that the Parliament could impeach the President. He said that there is a process of accountability of the President through Parliament. The Chairman of the Committee said that immunity was given to the president or governor and the minister at the time they are holding offices. After retirement, they will face cases and appear before the court.
Saeed Ghani and Ayesha Raza Farooq opposed the bill and said that this immunity was not given to the person rather to the office. After voting, the bill was rejected with majority. According to Article 248 (1) and (2), "(1)The President, a Governor, the Prime Minister, a Federal Minister, a Minister of State, the Chief Minister and a Provincial Minister shall not be answerable to any court for the exercise of powers and performance of functions of their respective offices or for any act done or purported to be done in the exercise of those powers and performance of those functions: Provided that nothing in this clause shall be construed as restricting the right of any person to bring appropriate proceedings against the Federation or a Province.
(2) No criminal proceedings whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the President or a Governor in any court during term of office." The Committee also discussed the new accountability bureau established by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government. The Committee directed the Law Ministry to present a comprehensive report while comparing the new institution with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The members said that the institution should avoid overlapping their powers. While discussing Federal Judicial Academy (Amendment) Ordinance 2014, Saeed Ghani and Ayesha Raza Farooq said that there was a need to change the draft for giving status of university to the Federal Judicial Academy or establishment of separate university. Afterwards the Committee decided to present another draft for establishment of Law University following consultation with Law Ministry.
Comments
Comments are closed.