ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani did not allow the government on Friday to table four bills and stopped a minister from moving motions seeking suspension of the said rule for presentation of the bills.

“Rule 263 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 2012, requires that a motion for suspension of rules may be made with the consent of the chairman. In the instant matters, I am not inclined to give my consent for moving of the said motion,” ruled Mr Rabbani while disallowing Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastagir Khan to move motions to enable him to present four bills related to his ministry.

Reading out the detailed ruling, Mr Rabbani said the minister wanted to move the motion under the rules which came into play only when a bill was originated in the National Assembly and transmitted to the Senate after its passage whereas “the bills sought to be considered for passage were ordinances promulgated under Article 89 of the constitution and laid before the Senate under sub-clause (2) of the same article and treated as a bill introduced in the Senate”.

“...the consideration is that the period of 120 days, as provided under Article 89 of the constitution, will lapse before the next session of the Senate. The negligence of the government cannot become an excuse to bulldoze legislation, and that too on such sensitive matters,” he declared.

Further, he said, the rule, which was sought to be suspended, provided for at least two clear days to intervene between the day of supply of the bill to members and the day for setting the bill for a motion.

The word “least”, he said, was of utmost significance. “In the instant case, the report of the standing committee was laid in the house yesterday (Thursday) and not even 24 hours have intervened.”

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar lodged a mild protest, saying if the chairman was to give this ruling, then why these bills and motions had been put on the agenda in the first place. The purpose of seeking permission was to maintain a good atmosphere in the house. He, however, said that the government respected the chair’s ruling.

Mr Rabbani told the minister that the Senate Secretariat had advised the government not to do so, but it was on the insistence of the ministry of parliamentary affairs that the items were put on the agenda. “Ask the ministry of parliamentary affairs about it,” the chairman said.

The bills which the commerce minister wanted to present for passage were the Safeguard Measures (Amendment) Bill, 2015; the Countervailing Duties Bill, 2015; the Anti-Dumping Duties Bill, 2015; and the National Tariff Commission Bill, 2015.

In response to a calling attention notice of PPP’s Sassui Palijo about “the destruction of homes and infrastructure along the Working Boundary due to heavy mortar shelling from the Indian side,” the finance minister said India would be given a befitting response in case of any border violation.

The minister while speaking on behalf of the defence minister said Pakistan wanted a peaceful neighbourhood but “it doesn’t mean that such incidents would be accepted”. He said the Foreign Office reacted after every incident and the country’s armed forces also gave them befitting response.

Mr Dar said India could not digest China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project and even raised objections over it but the Chinese government had rejected them.

Earlier, the Senate passed the Credit Bureaus Bill, 2015, aimed at providing a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework for incorporation and functioning of credit bureaus in the country.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2015

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