KARACHI: Sindh Governor Imran Ismail has termed the ongoing Sindh Assembly session illegal and asked the speaker to probe into the matter to find out as to who is responsible for such a “fraudulent activity” on behalf of his office.

In a letter addressed to Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani on Monday, the governor pointed out that on June 3, which was the last working day before Eid holidays, his office had received a summary from the chief minister at 4.45pm for summoning of the provincial assembly’s session.

The summary was processed for approval on June 10, which was the first working day after Eid holidays, it said.

Imran Ismail’s letter says the requisition contained signatures of five lawmakers who were not in city on June 10

“While the summary was under examination in my secretariat, the acting speaker requisitioned the session of the provincial assembly vide notification dated 10.6.2019 invoking Article 54(3) read with Article 127 of the Constitution, which can only be exercised in extreme exigency and requires requisition signed by one-fourth of the total membership of the provincial assembly as a mandatory obligation,” the governor stated.

The governor recalled that Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi, through a letter dated June 13, had informed him that the assembly’s secretary provided him a list of the MPAs who had requisitioned the session.

“On examination, regretfully it was found that the following members of the provincial assembly were either out of the country or were not in the city on June 10, whose signatures were found appended on the list: Malik Asad Sikander, Dr Sohrab Khan Sarki and Abdul Razzaq Raja were out of the country while Faryal Talpur and Munawwar Ali Wassan were not in the city.”

The governor further stated: “It is also pertinent to mention here that my secretariat had requested secretary, provincial assembly secretariat for provision of the said signed requisition vide letter dated June 10. However, the secretary did not provide the same circumvented by misquoting various rules and procedures. The secretary was again requested for the signed requisition through this secretariat’s letter dated June 12, however, the response thereof is still awaited. It is now understandable why the details were being concealed.”

The governor said that “in view of the foregoing, issuance of requisition and the session which was summoned on June 12 onwards is for all practical purposes and reasoning, illegal ab initio.

“Therefore, I would request you to kindly probe this matter to find out the factual situation to who are responsible for such fraudulent activity on behalf of the office of the speaker. It is also in the fitness of affairs that the secretary of the Sindh Assembly secretariat be directed to respond to the letter issued from my Secretariat,” the governor’s letter said.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2019