ISLAMABAD, Jan 4: The ARD senators in the Senate standing committee on defence and defence production have declined to go to General Headquarters (GHQ) for a briefing and demanded that the same should be held within the precincts of parliament.

The briefing at the GHQ is scheduled for January 15. The opposition senators namely Farhatullah Babar and Rukhsana Zuberi of the PPP and Mehtab Khan of PML-N on Tuesday sent a letter to the chairman of the committee, Nisar Memon, saying, "our concern for the supremacy of parliament and affording an opportunity to the GHQ to partially correct adverse political perceptions about it persuades us to decline the briefing in the GHQ."

Previously, these senators also declined to attend briefing in the GHQ scheduled for August 26 last year. That meeting, however, was not held as the Senate Secretariat citing "unavoidable circumstances" as the reason had cancelled it.

The letter, sent by the senators to the chairman, said, "Rule 163 (2) of the Rules of Business in the Senate states the sittings of a committee shall ordinarily be held within the precincts of the Senate."

Article 66 (3) of the Constitution calls for making laws to punish persons, who refuse to give evidence or produce documents before a house committee and mirror the objectives and environment of the meetings of a parliamentary committee, said the letter.

"More than a study tour of the GHQ, the meeting should serve to reflect the true purpose of a parliamentary committee's meeting dedicated to ascertaining facts and calling evidence in an environment mandated by Article 63 (3) of the Constitution and not to cast a shadow on the image of the Parliament."

The letter said, "We should also like to draw your attention to Rules 160 and 161 of the Rules of Business in the Senate about determination of questions at a sitting of a committee by a majority of the members present and voting and the casting vote by the chairman in the event of a tie.

No exercise has been carried out to determine the opinion of the majority of the members of the committee with respect to the venue of the meeting." In the letter, the senators said when the same matter was raised previously, they were told that since similar briefings were also held at the Air Headquarters and at the Naval Headquarters "without adverse comments", therefore, the briefing in the GHQ could also be held.

The senators said it was hard to agree with this contention as they believed that the GHQ, unlike the AHQ and the NHQ, had unfortunately attracted adverse political comments. "It is critically important for the image of the GHQ to correct adverse political perceptions about it," said the letter.

The senators said the GHQ should agree that the briefing was held in the precincts of the Senate and it would be an important gesture both on the part of the committee and the GHQ in this regard.