Contempt of parliament bill sails through NA
ISLAMABAD:THE National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday passed Contempt of Majlis-e-shoora (Parliament) Bill, 2023 by majority vote.
The bill empowers the lawmakers to punish those commiting contempt of parliament or its commitees and breaching the privilege of any member of any house of parliament on the patern of the contempt of court law.
The bill titled “Contempt of Majlis-e-shoora (Parliament) Bill 2023” was tabled by PTI dissident Rana Qasim Noon and it was supported one by one by almost all the parties present in the National Assembly and the lawmakers termed the move too late, saying that such a law should have been enforced much earlier.
Under the proposed law, “the power to award punishment” rests with the National Assembly or the Senate on the recommendations of the 24-member “Contempt Commitee” to be formed by the National Assembly speaker and the decision of the House, according to the proposed law, “shall be the decision of the majority of the members present and voting.”
According to Section 9 of the proposed act, “whoever is found guilty of contempt of a House or a commitee shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or with fine which may extend to Rs10 million or with both.”
Section 10 of the said bill says that “any decision of a House shall be executed and enforced by judicial magistrate under whose territorial jurisdiction the accused is temporarily residing under relevant provisions of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1898 (V of 1898).”
The proposed law also provides the right of appeal to the convicted person which would then be heard by the lawmakers in a joint sitting of the parliament. The appeal before the joint siting must be filed within 30 days of the announcement of the verdict. The joint siting will have the powers to decide the appeal or may refer such appeal to another commitee of the joint siting which shall give its final report also within thirty days. The proposed law has empowered parliament to prescribe rules and procedures for hearing of the appeal and the formation of the joint commitee.
“The speaker shall within thirty days of the commencement of this Act, constitute a Contempt Commitee for the purposes mentioned in this Act. The Contempt Commitee shall consist of 24 members having equal representation from each House [Senate and NA],” said the bill.