ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice on Wednesday initiated a debate on a bill seeking to amend Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution regarding disqualification of a person as the member of the Parliament for not being Ameen (honest).

The private member’s bill moved by PML-N’s Rana Maqbool Ahmed on May 23 was taken up by the committee which met under the chairmanship of Senator Barrister Syed Ali Zafar.

According to a statement, Barrister Zafar said the wording of Article 62(1)(f) was vague because it was highly difficult to determine who was sagacious and advised that a debate should take place on the matter. The committee members suggested that it should also be debated as to whether there should be any time limit set if the person was disqualified under Article 62(1)(f).

The committee chairman pointed out that the matter of time limit has been settled by the Supreme Court in a judgement in which has decided that if a person is found to be dishonest then he be disqualified from being a member of the parliament for life.

However, Barrister Zafar further pointed out that this was for the Parliament to debate and decide if they want to restrict the time limit of disqualification for future matters.

The chairman then directed the law ministry to provide a written reply as to whether the law ministry is accepting or opposing the amendment and also directed the Islamic Ideology Council to give its comments.

The committee members also discussed another bill moved by PPP Senator Farooq H. Naek seeking amendment to Article 142 of the constitution.

Under the proposed amendment to this article, power should be given to the Federal Legislature to make amendments in the Civil Procedure Code, Contract Act and other matters.

With regard to amendment to Article 142, Barrister Zafar pointed out that this was a matter which related to the 18th Amendment and therefore requires consideration and accordingly directed the Law Ministry to give comments in writing as well.

The law secretary pointed out that the ministry has no objection. However, Barrister Zafar directed that the ministry should give its comments in writing and give reasons whether the amendment is acceptable or not.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2022