ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Defence on Friday passed with a majority vote the National Command Authority (NCA) amendment bill which, on becoming law, would change the status of employees of strategic organisations under the authority as non-civil servants despite a judgement of the Supreme Court holding field.

“Provided that notwithstanding anything contained in any judgement, decree, order, direction or declaration of any court, including the Supreme Court of Pakistan, or in this Act or in any other law for the time being in force, the rules instructions or orders already made, or which may be made, in respect of the employees and strategic organisations of the Authority shall be non-statutory unless approved by the federal government and published in the official gazette of Pakistan,” reads a proposed amendment to Section 15 of the National Command Authority Act, 2010.

Informed sources told Dawn that during an in-camera meeting of the Senate committee presided over by its chairman Mushahid Hussain Sayed, one of the members wrote a note of dissent.

The NCA is an umbrella strategic organisation which oversees a number of institutions, their staffing, policy formulation, exercises, deployment, research and development and operational command and control of the country’s nuclear arsenal. The prime minister is chairman of the NCA whose other members include ministers for foreign affairs, defence, finance and interior, the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and heads of three services.

The bill has already been passed by the National Assembly, and after its clearance by the Senate committee, it is most likely to sail through the upper house of parliament soon.

“It is necessary and expedient to amend the National Command Authority Act, 2010 … to provide more clearly that the federal government shall ensure provision of funds and to further reiterate the original intent of the NCA Ordinance 2007 and NCA Act 2010 that the employee in service of the Authority are not civil servants and that legal relationship of the Authority with its employees is governed under the doctrine of master and slave and further the proposed amendment shall also prevent the abuse of legal process in respect of affairs of the state,” the statement of objects and reasons reads.

The Supreme Court had on January 21 ruled that service rules of employees of strategic organisations were statutory and could thus reach the court for arbitration. An appeal against the verdict is still pending.

In the 28-page judgement, Justice Ejaz Afzal noted that the court had failed to understand how the statutory status of rules could affect and undermine an organisation’s autonomy. The court observed that unaccounted exercise of unfettered powers was dangerous and devastating for an institution like the NCA.

According to the sources, the Senate committee was briefed on the implications of the Supreme Court judgement and the need to bar jurisdiction of the superior courts.

The committee was informed that the SC verdict would enable NCA employees to challenge the system so freely in courts that could be seen by countries as an evidence of loosening control over the programme. “Forces inimical to Pakistan will use this loophole to drag the NCA into legal battles, thus moving them away from their strategic focus,” a document shared with the committee states.

It says the litigation will expose and bring in public domain a lot of classified and sensitive documents that constitute a disclosure of sensitive information and make readily available to hostile agencies which are spending billions of dollars to have access to such information and thereby seriously jeopardising the national interest. It also involves the risk of identifying nuclear scientists, engineers and technicians, the document warns.

Published in Dawn October 29th, 2016