A last ditch effort by opposition lawmakers in Senate to withdraw additional perks and privileges including a 6000 CC bullet-proof vehicle from former chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry ended in smoke on Tuesday, when Attorney General for Pakistan told the house that the matter was sub judice.
A resolution moved by Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Senator Farhatullah Babar was also signed by six senators belonging to different political parties. Those who put their signatures on the resolution included Haji Adeel of ANP, Ghulam Ali of JUI-F, Tahir Hussain Mashhadi of MQM, Hidayatullah from FATA, Abdul Rauf from PkMAP. "This House expresses serious concern that a former CJP is availing fringe benefits over and above those admissible under the rules. It believes that such discrimination in availing extra fringe benefits by only one ex-CJP to the exclusion of other ex-CJPs and ex- judges militates against the prestige of the judiciary," said the resolution.
"This hose [Senate], therefore, calls for a review of the discriminatory decision of allowing additional perks to the former CJP and for taking appropriate steps to withdraw the same from him and recover the amount spent on it from the beneficiary," it added The resolution also called for summoning the former chief justice before the appropriate committee of the house to explain the reasons for availing extra-post retirement benefits over and above those allowed under the rules.
The 'warring senators' who were up in arms for giving extra perks and privileges to the former top judge of the country, also sought the opinion of Attorney General (AG) for Pakistan.
The briefing by the top law officer of the country, who humbly submitted to the enraged senators that the government had filed an intra-court appeal against the verdict of the local court and the matter is currently sub judice, which left the outgoing Senate chairman Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari with no option but to adjourn proceeding, terming the matter 'sub judice.'
The opposition leader in Senate Aitzaz Ahsan, who was also the de facto leader of the popular lawyers' movement which led to restoration of an independent judiciary including the then chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhary, and leader of the house Raja Zafarul Haq said that the matter was sub judice and a categorical assertion on the issue be avoided.
Raja Zafar assured the house that the government was pursuing the matter in the court. He said that former chief justice was given an official bullet-proof vehicle on the directives of Islamabad High Court (IHC) and the government also filed an intra-court appeal against the verdict.
Speaking on his resolution, Senator Babar - a left-wing activist politician of PPP - said that the government should have either challenged the court order or amended the rules to provide for additional perks to the ex-chief justice to comply with the court orders but it failed to do so resulting in discrimination in awarding additional perks to only one chief justice among several other former chief justices.
He said that it was unfortunate that on one hand, the former chief justice was sticking stubbornly to the extra-perks and on the other the government failed to amend the relevant law to create a non-discriminatory regime.
Senator Babar then staged a token walkout against the issue. Several lawmakers from various opposition parties also joined him in the token walkout. However, the house unanimously passed two other resolutions. In the first one, tributes were paid to the outgoing Senate Chairman Syed Nayyar Bokhari while the other expressed deep grief and sorrow over the sad demise of former Senator Mir Abdur Rehman Jamali.
The first resolution moved by Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, who is also chairman organising committee of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA), emphasised the importance of and Pakistan's commitment to the formation of an Asian Parliament. The APA, in its seventh plenary session held in December 2014 had approved Pakistan's proposal of creation of an Asian Parliament.
The resolution paid rich tribute to the efforts of Chairman Senate and President APA Syed Nayyer Hussain Bokhari for being the architect of the vision of Asian Parliament. Mushahid said that Bokhari worked hard to transform APA into an Asian Parliament in an historic manner and this will live to be Senate's important lasting legacy.
The house recognises that creation of Asian parliament, an institutional voice of Asian Century, would be the ultimate pivot towards effective and mutually reinforcing regional and sub-regional partnerships. The house unanimously adopted the resolution for establishment of Asian Parliament and urged national parliaments of all Asian countries to adopt similar resolutions, besides asking their respective executives to take concrete steps and move a fast pace for establishment of Asian Parliament.
The lawmakers including outgoing senators paid rich tributes to the outgoing chairman Senate Syed Nayyer Hussain Bokhari after PML-F lawmaker Syed Muzafar Hussain Shah pointed out that that this might be the last day of the chairman in the house as he would be the acting president tomorrow (Wednesday).
Lawmakers appreciated his efforts for giving the concept of Asian Parliament and conducting two sessions of APA in Pakistan. Raja Zafarul Haq remarked that PPP should have given one more chance to Bokhari in Senate, adding that he always stood by rules while conducting the business of the house "You, Mr chairman implemented rules and accommodated all," he said. Farhatullah Babar said that Chairman left many legacies behind him including a think tank of Senate and the concept of APA while Jaffer Iqbal of PML-N proposed that Senate should make a national plan to end poverty, illiteracy, terrorism and water issues faced by the country. Bokhari, in his concluding remarks said that he stood by the party from where he started his political career. "I was a unanimous chairman and my approach was to treat all with quality," he said.