ISLAMABAD: Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani questioned the federal government on Wednesday for arresting Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Ejaz Ahmad Chaudhry without intimating him, saying he was going to issue the production order of the detained senator.
“The chairman Senate needs to be apprised if any senator is to be arrested on any charge against him/her,” Sanjrani said, presiding over the Senate sitting.
The chairman said he was going to issue production order of the PTI senator but Leader of the House in Senate Azam Nazeer Tarar informed him that the matter was taken up with the Punjab government and the detained senator was released.
The chairman Senate told Tarar that it was not appropriate on part of the government to arrest any member of the upper house of the Parliament without informing the Senate chief.
Section 79 (1) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate 2012 provides that when a case is registered or a member is arrested on a criminal charge or for a criminal offence or is sentenced to imprisonment by a court or is detained under an executive order, the committing judge, magistrate or, as the case may be, executive authority, shall immediately intimate such fact to the chairman indicating the reasons for the arrest, detention or imprisonment of the member in the appropriate form set out in the Second Schedule.
Section 84 (1) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate 2012 provides that the chairman Senate or chairman of a Senate committee may summon a member in custody on the charge of any offence or under any law relating to preventive detention to attend a sitting or sittings of the Senate or meeting of a committee of which he is a member if he considers his presence necessary.
It is worth mentioning here that scores of PTI leaders, workers, activists and supporters were arrested by Punjab Police on Wednesday in a bid to sabotage the PTI’s ‘Haqiqi Azadi March’ launched from different parts across the country towards Islamabad.
Video footages kept circulating throughout the day on social and electronic media of men, women and children severely beaten and abused by the policemen. Scores of the leaders and workers of the former ruling party were detained and kept at undisclosed locations.
Still hundreds of thousands of people managed to overcome all the hurdles and show up at Islamabad on Chairman PTI Imran Khan’s call, removing the barricades created by the law enforcers to prevent the masses from reaching federal capital.
Meanwhile, the Senate expressed solidarity with Kashmiri Hurriyat leader Yasin Malik, who was handed life sentence by an Indian court on Wednesday, and pledged to highlight the Kashmir issue at all international forums.
Earlier, the chairman Senate, with the consent of the house, suspended the question hour to express solidarity with Kashmiri Hurriyat leader Yasin Malik.
The house will now meet again on Friday.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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