The lower house of parliament on Tuesday passed nine private members’ bills which had already sailed through Senate.
Moved by PPPP lawmaker Jam Abul Karim Bijar, the House passed the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Bill, 2022 and the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Bill, 2022. The House passed six other bills which were the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2021(Section 510); the Control of Narcotic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2022; the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2022 (Section 195); the Children (Pledging of Labour) (Amendment) Bill, 2022; the Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022. All these bills were jointly sponsored by Naveed Aamir Jeeva (PPPP), Syed Javed Hasnain (PML-N) and Qadir Khan Mandokhail (PPPP). The House also passed the Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2021 which was individually moved by PML-N lawmaker Syed Javed Hasnain.
The House referred six private members’ bills to relevant committees after their introduction in the House. It also witnessed introduction of six private members’ bills which were the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2022; the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2022 (Amendment in Article-204, and 209); the Muslim Family Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022; the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2022; the Anti-terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and the National Commission on the Rights of Child (Amendment) Bill, 2022. All these bills were referred to the relevant committees for further deliberations.
A bill – the Law Reforms (Amendment) Bill, 2022 – was deferred on the request of mover while the Contempt of Parliamentary Committees Bill, 2022 was dropped due to absence of relevant lawmaker. The National Assembly Tuesday approved an amendment allowing Chairpersons of the Committees to determine the time table of business of their relevant committee and the agenda for each meeting after intimation to the relevant minister.
PPPP lawmaker Qadir Khan Mandokhail sought amendment in sub-rule 1 of Rule 293 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007 to substitute the words “in consultation with” the words “under intimation to”. The House approved the amendment with majority vote as 17 lawmakers voted in favor of the motion for amendment while one lawmaker opposed it. The existing Rule 239 (1) is about the agenda and notices of meetings of Committees which says, “the time table of business of a Committee and the agenda for each meeting of the Committee shall be determined by the Chairman in consultation with the Minister concerned”.
After the approval of the amendment by the National Assembly, the Rule 293 (1) will be as follows; “the time table of business of a Committee and the agenda for each meeting of the Committee shall be determined by the Chairman under intimation to the Minister concerned.
The National Assembly on Tuesday witnessed presentation of 28 reports of various standing committees after condoning delay in the tabling of these reports. The House witnessed introduction of 23 reports of various committees which were related to legislative proposals including the International Institute of Technology, Culture and Health Sciences Bill, 2022; the Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (Article- 62); the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (Article- 27); the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (Article- 156); the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2018 (Article- 27); the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (Article- 27); the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (Article- 36); the Islamabad Bee-keeping and Honey Board Bill, 2021; the West Pakistan Pure Food (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Legal Aid and Justice Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Benazir Income Support Programme (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the National Commission for Minorities Bill, 2021; the Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (Article-239); the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (Article-63-A); the National Commission for Rights of Non-Muslims Bill, 2021; the Federal Medical Teaching Institutes Bill, 2021; the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and two identical bills namely the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (Article- 59).
