The Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani on Monday referred a bill - "The Corporate Rehabilitation Bill, 2015" - to the House panel concerned for re-consideration after the rare question of propriety rights arose as the Chairman of the Standing Committee had voted for his own bill. The House witnessed an interesting scene, when it was revealed that the chairman of the House panel, Senator Saleem Mandviwala of PPP had voted for his own bill on finding a tie of 4-4 votes in the standing committee meeting with regards to passage or rejection of his bill.
Rabbani said that the committee chairman should have avoided exercising his right to vote, as the bill on which voting was being held was his own. Mandviwala's bill to provide for the rehabilitation and restructuring of corporate entities: The Corporate Rehabilitation Bill, 2015, was deliberated upon in Senate Standing Committee on Finance and at the time of voting, he had cast his vote, finding tie of 4-4 votes in favour and against his bill hence the opposition senators had secured approval of the piece of legislation.
Initially, Mandviwala denied having voted but then recalled on being asked to do so by the committee's secretary, he had exercised his voting right. "If you voted despite being the mover of the bill, then the question of propriety rights arises," observed Rabbani.
Speaking on the bill, Senator Nauman Wazir of PTI, Mohsin Leghari of the treasury benches, and Ayesha Raza of PML-N called for a review of the bill, as it massively favoured/benefited the borrower while the entire pressure would be on the lender. The borrowers, they feared, would find it easy to get stay if and when they wished. They also contended that the bill also would lead to increased pressure on the courts, which might not have technical know-how to deal with such matters.
On this Mandviwala complained that the bill had been pending for the last several months, but the government took no interest in it or moved to propose amendments in it. Law Minister Zahid Hamid strongly opposed the bill and said that the piece of legislation heavily would be to the benefit of the borrower. He also was the one who pointed out the fact that it was a procedural act that the mover of the bill, as the committee chairman, had voted in support of his own bill.
He noted a clear bias in the bill and asked the senators voted against the bill, which Mandviwala wanted the House to adopt at once after being cleared by the House Standing Committee on Finance. The House welcomed a delegation from Belarus, which was present in the visitors' gallery.
The House adopted a resolution to facilitate Pakistan cricket team on the achievement of number one position in the Test rankings. It was moved by PML-N's Chaudry Tanvir Khan. On the request of the government, Senator Sitara Ayaz of ANP withdrew her resolution that recommended that Pakistan Meteorological Department may be placed under the administrative control of the Ministry of Climate Change.
MQM's Mian Muhammad Ateeq Shaikh tabled a resolution, which was also adopted by the House. It recommends that the government should give incentives to local car manufacturers in order to boost up production of low-priced vehicles in Pakistan. Mandviwala's bill to amend the Protection of Economic Reforms Act, 1992: The Protection of Economic reforms (Amendment) Bill, 2016, was referred to the committee concerned.
Similarly, the chair deferred further consideration of PPP Senator Karim Ahmad Khawaja bill: The National Authority for International Law and Commitments Bill, 2016. On his part, the law minister opposed the bill, saying that the concerned ministry took care of such matters, therefore, there was no need for such authority.