JHANG, Oct 1: The opposition staged a walkout from the house during the second session of the district council here on Monday.

The district council was meeting for the first time after its inaugural session held last month. The main item on the agenda was the framing of bylaws.

The trouble started soon after the recitation from the Holy Quran when the deputy leader of the opposition, Syed Shabbar Raza, demanded provision of the copies of the minutes of the last meeting.

Convener Syed Asad Hayat said he had sent the copies to the local government commission and the members could get the same from there. He said it was not his duty to provide the copies to each member. He also read out the relevant section of the law from the new Local Government Ordinance in support of his ruling, but the opposition kept raising hue and cry.

On another point of order, the chief whip of the opposition, Syed Babar Sultan, objected to the presence of some unconcerned people in visitors and press galleries. The Speaker ruled that the visitors and press galleries were not a part of the house and anybody could sit there and watch the proceedings after obtaining permission from his office.

When a motion for the formation of a committee for framing bylaws was put before the house, the opposition again started shouting and walked out of the house in protest against a suggestion by a treasury member, empowering the convener to nominate the committee. The motion was eventually carried unanimously in the absence of opposition.

SHOT DEAD:A newly-wed couple was shot dead while the mother of the bridegroom was injured over a marriage dispute in Haveli Bahadur Shah village, some 25km from here, in Shorkot tehsil on Sunday evening.