ISLAMABAD: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub on Tuesday warned the government of “dire consequences” of enacting the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organisation) Act, 1996, by allowing the country’s premier intelligence agency – the ISI – to intercept telephone calls of the citizens.

Speaking on a point of order in the National Assembly, the leader of the opposition said that a “draconian” SRO has been issued under which the ISI – Inter-Services Intelligence – has been allowed to intercept the telephone calls of the citizens if there is a threat to the national security.

He questioned the intention of the SRO, asserting that it would be misused and the first victims would be politicians, members of the National Assembly, media persons, and lawyers.

Responding to the concerns, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said that the government has done nothing new by allowing the premier intelligence agency to intercept calls and messages through any telecommunication system.

He said the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organisation) Act, 1996 has been in place since 1996 that provides to trace calls and messages of citizens.

He said it has been made mandatory to provide names of the officers not below Grade-18 and their area of operation to perform their responsibilities. He said that it will help counterterrorist activities in the country and it will make sure that it is not misused.

Earlier, the leader of the opposition also urged the speaker National Assembly to take action against the Adiala Jail administration for not allowing him and other PTI leaders to meet founding chairman Imran Khan, recently.

He also announced that he would submit a privilege motion against the jail administration by breaching privilege of the Leader of the House and not allowing them to meet Imran Khan in jail in violation of the court orders.

Meanwhile, the chair also interrupted the leader of the opposition when he accused Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa of being “partisan” in the Sunni Ittehad Council’s reserved seats case and urged him to withdraw himself from the bench hearing the case.

Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, however, stopped Ayub from passing remarks against the chief justice.

The leader of the opposition also condemned the police raid conducted on his house in Islamabad on Sunday, saying that he would also bring a privilege motion against the incident.

Meanwhile, PTI leader Asad Qaiser urged the chair to take notice of the police raid on the residence of the leader of the opposition.

The Speaker, however, asked the PTI leader to submit their complaint in writing to him for any action.

Meanwhile, the house also referred certain proposed amendments to the rules of procedure and conduct of the business in the National Assembly to its concerned committee which include restricting the members of the house from passing any sexist, indecent or derogatory remarks that may be prejudicial on the basis of sex, cast, religion, language and culture.

The amendments were proposed and moved by PPP MNA Nafeesa Shah along with other female members of the House.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024