ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice will take up on Tuesday (tomorrow) the controversial inquiry commissions bill that had already been passed by the National Assembly despite opposition’s protest against the backdrop of the controversy over the Panama Papers scam.

The government had managed to secure the passage of the Pakistan Commissions of Inquiry Bill, 2016, from the National Assembly on Nov 30 last year after the opposition had foiled its three similar attempts by boycotting the proceedings and pointing out the lack of quorum.

Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani had referred the bill to the law and justice committee headed by Javed Abbasi of the ruling PML-N after its introduction by the government in the house last month.

The new law had been drafted after the then chief justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali wrote back to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif while refusing to constitute an inquiry commission to hold investigations into the Panamagate scam under the old law which he termed “toothless”.

The federal cabinet had approved the draft of the bill on Aug 31 last year, following which the main opposition PPP had submitted to the Senate Secretariat its own bill seeking formation of a judicial commission to probe Panamagate.

When the government had managed to get its bill passed from the National Assembly, the opposition having majority in the Senate managed the passage of its bill on Panamagate scam.

The opposition claims that there is not much difference in the existing and the proposed laws and the government is bringing the old law with a new name, saying the government is replacing a toothless law with another toothless law.

PPP’s Parliamentary Leader in the National Assembly Syed Naveed Qamar had termed the government’s move “an exercise in futility”, declaring that this bill would be rejected by the Senate where the opposition has a majority.

The opposition also alleges that the government has introduced the law in order to save Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family currently facing charges of corruption and money laundering as revealed by the Panama Papers leaks. The government says that the proposed law will replace the 60-year-old 1956 act, which the Supreme Court had declared “toothless”.

Law Minister Zahid Hamid on a number of occasions has denied the impression that the bill is being tabled to save the prime minister and his family. Instead, he once said, there was a possibility that the law might not be used in the Panamagate inquiry as the apex court had already taken up the matter under Article 184 of the Constitution.

Through the proposed law, the minister says, the government has in fact strengthened the inquiry commissions which could be formed on any matter in future, adding the publishing of the inquiry report under the new law has been made mandatory.

Under the proposed law, the federal government will have the power to constitute a commission, which shall conduct the inquiry and perform its functions in accordance with the terms of reference (ToR) specified in the notification.

“The federal government shall specify the time period within which such inquiry shall be concluded, provided that the federal government may, on the request of the chairman of the commission, extend the time so specified,” says the draft of the bill.

The proposed commission, under the new law, shall have the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 and can summon and enforce the attendance of any person and examine him on oath.

It says: “The chairman or any officer, not below the rank of an officer of BS-18, especially authorised in this behalf by the chairman may enter any building or place where the Commission has reason to believe that any books of account or other documents relating to the subject matter of the inquiry may be found; and may seize any such books of account or documents or take extracts or copies there from.”

The commission shall also have the same powers as that of a high court to punish a person who “abuses, interferes with or obstructs the process of the Commission in any way or disobeys any order of the Commission, scandalises the Commission or otherwise does anything which tends to bring the Commission or a member of the Commission in relation to his office into hatred, ridicule or contempt”.

The commission will also have the powers to constitute an international team and seek international cooperation from foreign countries or agencies to get information, documents, evidence and record or issue letters in accordance with applicable international instruments.

Besides the inquiry commissions bill, the Senate committee will also take up the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2017.

The government had initially implemented the amendment through promulgation of an ordinance. The law, however, became ineffective when the opposition parties passed a resolution in the Senate disapproving the ordinance, which had imposed a lifetime ban on holding public offices by the beneficiaries of the provisions of voluntary return and plea bargain.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2017