ISLAMABAD, Jan 5: Senate Chairman Mohammedmian Soomro has disallowed an adjournment motion submitted by 10 opposition senators seeking a debate on recent hike in the prices of petroleum products , parliamentary leader of the Democratic Alliance Mian Raza Rabbani told Dawn on Wednesday.

Mr Rabbani said that he received a letter from the Senate's secretariat on Wednesday informing him that the Senate chairman had disallowed the motion on the ground that the matter was already under consideration of the standing committee concerned.

According to Mr Rabbani, the letter said: "The motion is technically inadmissible at this stage as the subject matter of the motion is already under consideration of the Senate standing committee on petroleum and natural resources."

The motion, killed by the chairman, had been signed by Raza Rabbani, Dr Safdar Abbasi, Enver Baig, Sardar Latif Khosa and Dr Abdullah Riar of the PPP, Ishaq Dar and Sadia Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Asfandyar Wali of the Awami National Party, Sanaullah Baloch of the Balochistan National Party and Raza Mohammad Raza of the Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party.

Mr Rabbani criticized the chairman for killing the motion in his chamber and challenged the reason cited for the act. He said the standing committee was reviewing the deregulation policy and not the increase in the prices. Moreover, he said, the matter was referred to the committee before increase in the prices of petroleum products.

Mr Rabbani, who is also the parliamentary leader of the People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP) in the Senate, said the government had twice increased the prices of the petroleum products which was adversely affecting the life of a common man. He said the opposition had submitted the motion considering it an important public issue.

The opposition senator also termed the act of the chairman a contradiction to the understanding given by the chair on the floor of the house that all adjournment motions would be brought before the Upper House and disposed off accordingly.

Mr Rabbani said the opposition had submitted the motion on Dec 18 when the government announced an increase of over Rs2 in the price of petroleum products. However, recently the government had again increased the prices of petroleum products and the opposition senators had already submitted another adjournment motion on the issue.

He, however, predicted that the second adjournment motion would also be killed by the chairman on the same ground and this would "amount to gag the house from discussing important issues related to the common man". The PPP senator vowed to raise the issue in the next session.