- The approval of the bill was moved by Rana Qasim Noon.
- Proposal for formation of 24-member Parliamentary Insults Committee.
- The committee will include equal members of the opposition, government members of the assembly.
On Tuesday, the National Assembly unanimously passed the “Contempt of Majlis Shura (Parliament) Bill, 2023”, which imposes a six-month jail term and a Rs 10 million fine for “violating the sovereignty and integrity of the Majlis”. Is. Legislature in any shape or form.”
The bill was approved after it was presented in the lower house by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) defector legislator and Chairman Standing Committee on Rules and Regulations Rana Qasim Noon. The meeting was presided over by Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf.
Federal Minister for Education and Vocational Training Rana Tanveer Hussain welcomed the bill and said it will help improve the oversight role of Parliament.
“A law on contempt of parliament was the need of the hour,” Tanveer said, adding that there was a law for insulting every institution but not Parliament.
Under the proposed law, a 24-member Parliamentary Contempt Committee will be formed to investigate contempt of parliament cases. According to the proposal, the committee will include equal members of the opposition and the government.
Under the bill, the committee can summon any state or government official for contempt of Parliament.
According to the proposal, the committee will submit a report to the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Chairman of the Senate, who will determine the punishment of the concerned person according to the recommendations.
According to this bill, a House may, by motion, charge any person with contempt of the house and; The Speaker or the Chairman of the Senate may refer the matter to the Contempt Committee. When a committee believes that any person will be charged with contempt, the chairman of that committee may move such a motion in the House.
The Speaker shall within thirty days of the commencement of this Act constitute a Contempt Committee for the purposes mentioned in this Act. The contempt committee will consist of twenty four members with equal representation from each house.
The Contempt Committee shall consist of fourteen members from the Treasury Benches duly nominated by the Leader of the House, including seven members from each House and ten members from the Opposition Benches, five members from each House to be appointed by the Leader of each House. Nominated by dissent.
The Secretary of the National Assembly Secretariat will act as the Secretary of the Contempt of Court Committee. Contempt decisions will be decided by the majority of the members present and voting will be in the form of recommendations.
The Bill states that the right to fair trial enshrined in the Constitution will be provided to everyone but no one will be allowed to appear before the committee through a legal practitioner or advocate. The Contempt Committee shall elect a Chairman from among its members at its first meeting.
A House may, on the recommendations of the Committee, impose any of the punishments prescribed under this Act: Whoever is found guilty of contempt of the House or Committee shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may The duration can be up to six. months or with fine which may extend to ten million rupees or with both.
The call to introduce a contempt of parliament bill came as the current government expressed its dismay at the involvement of the Supreme Court and other state bodies in executive affairs.
In line with these calls, earlier this month NA’s Standing Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges allowed the introduction of the “Contempt of Parliament Bill” on the floor of the House.
– Additional input from APP