ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday deferred introduction of an amendment to the Constitution to provide for increasing retirement age of judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan from 65 to 68 years, due to objections raised by the opposition.
The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019, seeking amendment to Article 179 of the Constitution, was sought to be introduced as a private members bill by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) parliamentarians Syed Fakhar Imam and Amjad Khan Niazi.
The Article 179 of the Constitution says that “a judge of the Supreme Court shall hold office until he attains age of 65 years”. The introduction of the amendment bill faced first hurdle when a Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) parliamentarian pointed out lack of quorum at the outset of proceedings, which remained suspended for the next an hour.
Parliamentary leader for Law and Justice Ms Maleeka Bokhari did not oppose introduction of the amendment to the Constitution. However, raising objections on the amendment, PPP member Syed Khurshid Shah felt that the incumbent government was under any pressure. He said if the government should itself introduce the bill instead of bringing it in the form a private members bill.
He said in the first step, the government should increase retirement age of all government employees and initiate a move to enhance service of judges of the Supreme Court.
On resumption of the proceedings, the speaker allowed introduction of the amendment with a majority voice. However, the opposition challenged the decision and demanded voting. Sensing situation in the House, Speaker Asad Qaisar deferred the bill, asking both the government and opposition members to sit together to sort out the issue.
Several other private members bills were also laid before the House on Tuesday. These include: The Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2019; The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2019; The Islamabad Club Administration (Amendment) Bill, 2019; The Rent Restriction (Amendment) Bill, 2019; The Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2019; The Transfer of Offenders (Amendment) Bill, 2019; The Islamabad Transfusion of Safe Blood (Amendment) Bill, 2019; The Chemical Fertilizers (Development Surcharge) (Amendment) Bill, 2019; The Controller General of Accounts (Appointment, Functions and Powers) (Amendment) Bill, 2019; and The Pakistan Academy of Letters (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad said the federal and provincial governments are committed to protection of life and property of minorities.
Speaking in the National Assembly on a point of order, raised by PML-N leader Khwaja Asif about the ransacking of Hindu temples in Ghotki district, the minister said the minorities are equal citizens of Pakistan and it is a responsibility of the state to protect their rights. He said nobody is above the law and the law would take its course. He expressed the confidence that the Sindh government would take the requisite steps to control the situation in Ghotki.
Kh Muhammad Asif said a loud and clear message should be given to the Hindu community that they are equal citizens of Pakistan and protection of their lives and properties would be ensured.
Minorities’ members strongly condemned the ransacking of temples in Ghotki. They said Pakistan was their motherland and they would not leave it. They termed the incident a conspiracy against the country.
They said they could not think of blasphemy, adding that if anybody had committed blasphemy, the culprit should be given punishment after investigation as per law. Those who spoke on the matter included Jai Parkash, Ramesh Kumar, Dr Darshan and Lal Chand.
Dr Darshan said that a few days back a Hindu girl was abducted from Ghotki, who is yet to be recovered, while a final-year female medical student was murdered, but the culprits were yet to be arrested.
Mufti Abdul Shakoor of Jamiat Ulema Islam-F (JUI-F) said Islam did not allow attacks or extremist acts against minorities. The chair said the entire parliament stands for the protection of rights of minorities.
