Senator Raza Rabbani, a stalwart of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), was caught smoking a cigar during a meeting of Senate standing committee, without paying any heed to the official decorum. Rabbani, who had also served as chairman Senate, smoked cigar without any hesitation in the Parliament where he had once approved a law for the protection of the health of non-smokers.
An interesting thing is that no member of the committee raised any objection over the indecent action of the former Senate chairman who could always been seen talking to rules, constitution, supremacy of Parliament, etc. It was Rabbani who once snubbed the then State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Abid Sher Ali when he came to the Senate with rolled up sleeves of his shirt. It was Rabbani who used to confiscate the cell phones of the lawmakers during the session if they were not on silent mode.
The former chairman Senate who is considered a man of principles used to stage walkouts from the House over petty things on the pretext of violation of rules, or something against his conscience. But, the 'champion of rules and discipline' crossed all the limits of decency by smoking a cigar in presence of all the lawmakers inside the committee room when a meeting of a standing committee was going on.
The Section 5 of the Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non-Smokers Ordinance 2002 specifically states, "No person shall smoke or use tobacco in any other form in any place of public work or use." The Section 11 of the Ordinance imposes a fine extending to Rs1,000 in the case of a first time offender.
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