Parliamentary proceedings can’t be challenged in court, IHC told

ISLAMABAD: Any decision associated with parliamentary proceedings could not be challenged in the court, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani's lawyer argued before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in Senate election case.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri heard the plea of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Senator Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani who had challenged the rejection of his seven votes by the presiding officer in elections for the Senate chairman.

Barrister Ali Zafar pleaded that the powers of Parliament, its officers, committees and members could not be challenged under the law. He said only a single party had challenged the decision of presiding officer. He said parliamentary or any of its committee's decision could only be discussed in the House. Justice Aamer Farooq inquired the counsel that in case of any clash between the members of Parliament, either they could register a first information report (FIR) against each other. To this, Barrister Ali Zafar said an FIR could only be registered if anyone was killed in the fight.

Quoting another country's precedence of a quarrel in Parliament, he said the Parliament served a contempt notice to lawyers who challenged the parliamentary violence in the court. He said English courts also treated the parliamentary proceedings as their inner subject. The courts could not interfere directly or indirectly in the affairs of parliament, he contended. The lawyer said Pakistan's Parliament had the same privilege as the British Parliament kept.