August 12, 2008	Tuesday	Sha'aban 9, 1429

LAHORE, Aug 11: The PML-Q forward bloc members who voted in favour of a government-sponsored resolution in the Punjab Assembly on Monday cannot be proceeded against by their party as they have not violated any provision of the Constitution, a former president of the Supreme Court Bar says.

Similarly, Advocate Hamid Khan said, no action could be taken against any ruling coalition legislator(s) in case they voted against their party decision on the issue of impeachment of President Musharraf.

Elaborating his point of view on the Punjab Assembly resolution on the question of president's impeachment, supported by the PML-Q forward bloc, Hamid Khan said such resolutions were not covered by Article 63 (J) of the Constitution and thus no action could be taken against any member(s) voting against the party policy.

He said the legislators were supposed to strictly follow the party policy on finance bill and no-confidence resolutions. On other issues, he said, the lawmakers could vote according to their own conscience.

As for the possibility of some ruling coalition parliamentarians abstaining from or voting against the resolution for President Musharraf’s impeachment, the former Supreme Court Bar chief said such a step would not amount to floor-crossing and thus no action would be possible against them.

However, he said, on its own their party could take them to task. Such people could be issued a show-cause notice or even expelled from the party, he added.