ISLAMABAD, Jan 31: The Senate Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs has underlined the need for identifying and codifying the privileges of the members of parliament.

This observation was made by the committee that met here on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Senator Dr. Khalid Ranjha to discuss “The Parliament and its Members Privileges Bill, 2003” introduced by Senator Ch. Muhammad Anwar Bhinder.

Highlighting the aims and objectives of the bill, Ch Anwar Bhinder apprised the committee members about the privileges enjoyed by the parliamentarians in different democratic setups. He explained that the immunities and privileges of a house or the members of parliament had not been clearly defined as required under Article 66 of the Constitution.

In order to fulfil the constitutional obligation, the said the bill had been introduced that provided same privileges for both the houses and members of parliament.

Keeping in view the importance of the bill, the committee decided to constitute a sub-committee with Senator S.M. Zafar as convener and Senators Ch. Anwar Bhinder and Farooq Hamid Naek as its members.

The committee also discussed “The Specific Relief (Amendment) Bill, 2003” and “The Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2003” introduced by Senator Ch. Anwar Bhinder in the Senate. The committee appreciated Mr Bhinder for introducing a useful bill and suggesting fruitful amendments to the Specific Relief Act and Code of Civil Procedure for removing procedural bottlenecks.

Regarding “The Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2003 introduced by Senator Babar Khan Ghori, there was a general consensus that practically it was not possible to conclude the proceedings in civil suits and appeals within one year and six months respectively and decided to drop the bill.

The meeting was also attended by Senators Chaudhry Muhammad Anwar Bhinder, Mouhim Khan Baloch, S.M. Zafar, Prof Ghafoor Ahmed, Amanullah Kanrani and Farooq Hamid Naek, Minister of State for Law, Justice and Human Rights Ch. Shahid Akram Bhinder and a representative of the ministry.