ISLAMABAD: The Minister for Defence Production, Rana Tanveer Hussain, agreed on Wednesday that the army should not have any say in the issuance of arms licences to elected representatives.

During the question hour, the minister told the Senate that the government was planning to change the rules to end the practice of obtaining an NOC (no objection certificate) from the General Headquarters (GHQ) before issuance of arms licences to the members of parliament and provincial assemblies.

The issue was raised by Zahid Khan of the Awami National Party (ANP), who had asked the government to provide names of parliamentarians who had been issued NOCs by the prime minister for purchase and provision of arms from Pakistan Ordnance Factory (POF), Wah Cantt, during the past five years.