ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice invited the representatives of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs in its next meeting for seeking input on a bill for allocating minimum of one seat for non-Muslims to each province.

The committee met with Senator Farooq H Naek in the chair at the Parliament House on Wednesday. The committee discussed the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2024 and public petition which called for establishing a separate Regional Office of the Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat (WMS) in Sahiwal.

The committee deliberated on the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2024, seeking to amend Article 51 of the Constitution, introduced by senators, Manzoor Ahmed and Danesh Kumar during the Senate sitting on 1st January 2024.

The bill aims at providing mechanism to allocate minimum of one seat for non-Muslims to each province to address the existing disparity Senator Naek underscored the importance of consulting provincial governments to obtain their feedback.

The committee decided to invite the representatives of the ECP and the Ministry of Religious Affairs in the next meeting for seeking input to ensure a comprehensive decision-making process.

The committee also reviewed public petition which called for establishing a separate Regional Office of the Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat (WMS) in Sahiwal. The secretary of the Law and Justice Division presented the Wafaqi Mohtasib’s viewpoint, emphasising that the volume of complaints from Sahiwal, with only 300 cases recorded, does not substantiate the need for a standalone office. It was further noted that the cities of Lahore and Multan already host fully operational WMS offices catering to the region.

After thorough consideration, the petition was disposed of with the consensus that the establishment of a WMS office in Sahiwal would remain subject to the Mohtasib’s existing policy framework.

The meeting was attended by senators, Zamir Hussain Ghumro, Shahadat Awan, Khalil Tahir, Kamran Murtaza, and Hamid Khan. Federal Minister for Law and Justice Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar, as well as the secretary of Law and Justice and other senior officials from the ministry and its affiliated departments also attended the meeting.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024