Rulings of the Chair (1973-1985)

Rulings of The Chair VOL-I RULINGS OF THE CHAIR (1973-1985) SENATE OF PAKISTAN 1 Rulings of The Chair 1986 2 Rulings of The Chair 1986 Preface Parliamentary practices of a legislative chamber evolve as a result of an intricate decades-long process through careful interpretation of constitutional provisions, rules of procedure and conduct of business and in-House legal traditions pronounced through various decisions or Rulings of the Chair. The Rulings are issued for the purpose of consolidating a consistent and sound legal and procedural edifice for smooth regulation of House proceedings during legislation, debate and matters raised on points of order, motions and questions of privilege, as they occur. At another level, the Rulings passed by successive Presiding Officers during their respective terms and in response to evolving needs of the House, serve to establish institutional benchmarks and uniformity of directions and decisions as merited and necessitated by different situations, thus forging standard practices for future reference. As such, periodical consolidation and updating Chair’s Rulings in a formalized documented form is an endeavour indispensible to preserving this important institutional memory as an important and reliable guide for all times. The Senate of Pakistan started functioning on August 06, 1973. Since then, the rulings issued by successive Chairmen / Presiding Officers were compiled time to time but not regularly. The rulings during the periods August 14, 1973 to July 4, 1977; and 21st March 1985 to 20th March 1987 were compiled in two volumes, followed by the third edition covering the period from 1987 to 1997. After that the practice of compilation of rulings was discounted, which can largely be attributed to discontinuation of Senate by the dictatorial regimes. The present publication is a compendium that condenses all previous rulings of the chair since advent of Senate till date. This publication marks culmination of marathon efforts made by the Senate Secretariat over a course of two years commencing in 2015 under the dynamic leadership and guidance of Honourable Chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani. The latest Rulings covering the period between 2015 and 2017 merit a special mention. With Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani as Chairman Senate, Rulings of the Chair underwent a great transformation becoming more structured and formalized with the advent of a new tradition of clear-cut written instructions, in addition to verbal prounouncement. Apart from being documented, the latest rulings also stand distinguished due to their comprehensive countenance and attention to details. They not only frame issues, but also specify the constitutional stance to be adopted by all. 3 Rulings of The Chair 1986 This publication is an endeavour to have a documented repository of legal and procedural memory, traditions and etiquettes, besides tracing and highlighting the origins, evolution and continuity of directions and decisions by the successive Chairs towards empowerment of both the Upper House and its constituents i.e. the provinces. Special attention has been paid towards assiduously gleaning information and details from printed verbatim record of debates and other documents with an emphasis on ensuring factual, contextual and historical authenticity, sentient to the fact that good procedure requires that there be consistency in the interpretation of practice and in the application of given rulings. In order to facilitate Members and readers in locating any point of reference in any given period, the rulings have been duly enumerated and listed under various house- business related categories and heads. Besides Senator Mian Raza Rabbani, one individual that merits special mention is Ms. Rabeea Anwar, Joint Secretary (Legislation) who has made it possible not only the compilation of Rulings but has also rendered support in digging out and drafting many. Amjed Pervez Secretary Senate 4 Rulings of The Chair 1986 Chairmen during this Period Mr. Habibullah Khan (Late) 06-08-1973 to 04-07-1977 Mr. Ghulam Ishaq Khan (Late) 21-03-1985 to 12-12-1988 5 Rulings of The Chair 1986 6 Rulings of The Chair 1986 Contents Preface 3 Chairmen during this Period 5 Privilege Motion 9 Question 56 Absentee Members 60 Resolution 63 Adjournment Motion 65 Point of order 184 Amendments 229 Bills 234 Decorum 245 Motion: 248 Press 253 Relevancy 254 Un Parliamentary 255 7 Rulings of The Chair Privilege Motion 8 Rulings of The Chair Privilege Motion 1. Privilege Motion: Breach of privilege of Senator Khawaja Mohammad Safdar because of his arrest during the Senate session and failure of police to intimate the fact of his arrest and release to the Chairman Senate, as required by rules 64 and 65: motion not raised at the earliest opportunity: but omission on the part of the police to intimate the arrest and release of the member to the Chairman. Senate, held a breach of collective privilege of the House: motion held admissible on this ground: Ruling On 1st December, 1973, Senator Khawaja Mohammad Safdar raised a question involving breach of privilege arising out of his arrest and detention for three hours and subsequent release without intimation to the Chairman, Senate. The Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs raised the objection that the motion was hit by rule 59(1) which prevented a member from raising more than one question of privilege at the same sitting. He maintained that the mover had tabled another Privilege Motion as well; the two motions had been taken notice of and circulated by the Chair. The Chairman observed that the rule did not prevent a member from giving notice of more than one Privilege Motion on the same day, but barred the raising of more than one question of privilege at the same sitting by the same member. On the Law Minister’s proposal that the mover should give a commitment that he would not move the other motion. The Chairman observed: “Whether he commits or not, I would not allow”. The Law Minister argued that the member had neither been arrested nor detained but had only been taken from one place to another in a van and therefore no intimation to the Chairman was necessary. Even if it amounted to arrest or detention, it had not been made within fourteen days before or after the session and did not come within the scope of Section 3 of the Members of the National Assembly (Exemption from Detention and Personal Appearance) Ordinance, 1963. The Minister also objected to the motion under rule 59 as the same had not been raised at the earliest opportunity. The Chairman reserved his ruling on these points to the next sitting. In the meeting of the Senate on 4th December, 1973, the Chairman announced his ruling as under: On 1st December, 1973, Khawaja Muhammad Safdar moved a Privilege Motion alleging 9 Rulings of The Chair Privilege Motion that he along with Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan was arrested on 6th September, 1973; by the Superintendent of Police, Lahore, from the office of the Pakistan Democratic Party and taken under custody to the Civil Lines Police Station, Lahore. He was, however, released after about 2-3 hours, while the other person was detained under the Defence of Pakistan Rules. The mover made two points, namely: i. That the action of the Superintendent Police amounted to breach of his privilege and that of the Senate, in as much as he was detained in contravention of the provision of Section 3 of the Members of the National Assembly (Exemption from Preventive Detention and Personal Appearance) Ordinance, 1963. ii. That the fact of his arrest and subsequent release was not intimated to the Chairmen of the Senate as required by Rules 64 and 65 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 1973. The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs opposing the motion contended that the action of the police in taking Khawaja Mohammad Safdar along with another person in the police van and keeping them for two or three hours, did not amount to arrest or detention and as such, no breach of privilege had been committed. The argument which he advanced was that since the Member had failed to submit his Privilege Motion at the earliest opportunity, as required under sub-rule 2 of Rule 59, the motion was inadmissible. In reply to the first argument Khawaja Mohammad Safdar contended that the fact of has removal by the Superintendent Police from the office of Pakistan Democratic Party to the Police station, even though it was for two or three hours, came within the definition of arrest and detention under the ordinary law and as such breach of privilege had been committed. With regard to the second argument, his reply was that he learnt of the omission on the part of the police to report his arrest and release only when he had availed himself of the first opportunity to move his Privilege Motion. Briefly, Khawaja Mohammad Safdar’s complaint raises two points: (1) Breach of his privilege because of his arrest during the Senate session and (2) failure of police to report the arrest and release to the Chairman of the Senate as required by the Rules. The action of the police in removing Khawaja Mohammad Safdar from the party office to the police station and in detaining him for about 3 hours amounted to arrest or detention under the ordinary law, cannot be seriously controverted. Restriction placed on the movement of a person against his consent for howsoever short a period, amounted to arrest and, therefore, I have on hesitation in holding that Khawaja Mohammad Safdar was placed under arrest or, for that matter under detention on the 6th September, 1973, when he was removed in police van from the party office to the police station.

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