ISLAMABAD: A Senate subcommittee on Friday expressed displeasure over what it called significant changes made to the proposed Comsats University Bill 2017 apart from what had been proposed.

The members of the subcommittee on science and technology observed that besides the Ministry of Science and Technology, four other departments were consulted and asked to make suggestions and propose amendments to the bill.

The proposed amendments were vetted by both the Cabinet Division and the Ministry of Law and Justice. However, Secretary Ministry of Science and Technology Fazal Abbas Maken said some other changes to the draft bill were inserted reportedly at its vetting stage in the Law and Justice Division without consulting the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Mr Maken told the subcommittee that he had ordered an inquiry into the matter.

Taking notice of these changes in the proposed bill, the Senate’s main committee on science and technology constituted the subcommittee last month to investigate the matter.

The subcommittee was mandated to figure out how the changes were made without the knowledge of the ministry and senior officials of the Comsats Institute of Information Technology (CIIT).

“This committee would like to know the intentions and the purpose for making the changes,” said Mohammad Ateeq Shaikh.

However, the meeting was informed that an inquiry conducted by the science and technology ministry held one of its senior officials responsible for suggesting the changes to the drafts bill.

According to the inquiry officer, Senior Joint Secretary Mohammad Naeem and two officials from the Comsats Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) were responsible for influencing the official of the law and justice division.

According to the inquiry report, Assistant Scientific Adviser Ministry of Science and Technology Khan Mohammad Wazir, Mukhtar Ahmad Malik, adviser CIIT, and Senior Manager Planning and Development CIIT, Aamir Usafzai, visited the Law and Justice Department and manipulated changes to the contents of the draft bill.

It was recommended in the report that warning should be issued to the two officials from CIIT with the instructions to strictly observe the official protocol for discharge of their duties in future. The ministry was directed to issue the warning to Khan Mohammad Wazir.

Additional Draftsman Ministry of Law and Justice Sheikh Sarfaraz explained that several factors were considered when a bill was given to the ministry for amendments.

“Nearly 90pc changes can be made to the language of the bill.

However, the ministry does not have the jurisdiction to interfere in policy making. Making changes to the policy will be outside the mandate of the Ministry of Law and Justice,” Mr Sarfaraz explained.

Unable to find out the alleged involvement of concerned officials, and after listening to all the comments, the chairman of the committee, Azam Khan Swati, directed the Ministry of Law and Justice for a thorough report on the matter.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2017