ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday disposed of a petition seeking issuance of production orders for former opposition leader Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah by throwing the ball in the court of Speaker National Assembly.

Chief Justice Athar Minallah expressed confidence that Speaker Asad Qaiser would exercise his powers to ensure that the constituents of NA-206, Sukkur-I, would not be unrepresented in the house during the budget session.

Mr Shah, a PPP leader, is an elected MNA from the constituency. He was arrested on September 18, 2019, by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

He had invoked the constitutional jurisdiction of the IHC seeking a direction to the speaker of the National Assembly to issue his production orders in exercise of powers conferred under Rule 108 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly 2007.

Farooq H. Naek, the counsel for Mr Shah, argued that the petitioner is presumed to be innocent and, therefore, he continues to represent the people of NA-206, Sukkur-I, as their chosen representative. He said the people of NA-206 will suffer if the constituency remains unrepresented in the National Assembly during the crucial budget session.

CJ hopes speaker would exercise his powers in best interest of people of NA-206

He said the refusal on part of the speaker to exercise his powers under Rule 108 of the Rules of 2007 will deprive the constituents of NA-206 of meaningful participation in the house.

The court noted that a division bench of the IHC had already ruled that ‘proceedings’ of Majlis-i-Shoora (parliament) are protected and could not be questioned under Article 69 of the Constitution.

Justice Minallah observed that the interest of the people of Pakistan is supreme and their will ought to be respected.

“The wisdom and intent of powers conferred under Rule 108 of the Rules of 2007 has been highlighted in the judgment of this Court reported as ‘Riaz Hanif Rahi v. Federation of Pakistan.”

This was the obvious wisdom for incorporating Rule 108 in the Rules of 2007, said the judgement.

“Moreover, since the expression ‘may’ has been used therein, therefore, the power vested in the speaker is of a discretionary nature. The speaker, while exercising discretion under the said rule, has to, inter alia, take into consideration the rights of the constituents, particularly that they cannot be allowed to go unrepresented.”

The court avoided to issue a direction to the speaker in the context of powers under Rule 108 of the Rules of 2007. However, Justice Minallah expressed the hope that the speaker would consider the matter and exercise his powers in the best interest of the constituents of NA-206.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2021