The Sindh Assembly on Friday passed 'The Sindh Institute of Animal Health Bill 2018' into law with a unanimous vote in addition to a resolution that was adopted to censure a PTI legislator for verbal clash with the Speaker.
The house also deferred the consideration of 'The Sindh Development and Maintenance of Infrastructure Cess (Amendment) Bill 2018' until the next sitting on Monday.
The house where PPP lawmakers make majority punished PTI's Khurrum Sher Zaman with a censure resolution after he enraged Agha Siraj Durrani, saying "Mr Speaker! You are under the NAB inquiry" after Durrani gagged his speech he was trying to make on water shortage in the areas of PS-112 constituency during a call-attention notice.
His taunting words evoked an instant shouting tone from Speaker who asked him to stop misbehaving and 'get out of the house.' Sindh Senior Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Nisar Khuhro demanded of the speaker to suspend Khurrum's membership as a legislator for misbehaviour. Khurrum had said he felt embarrassment that NAB is also probing against a speaker. He went on to say that speaker also carried corruption allegations.
"My doors are open for all and you can also come to investigate with them [investigators]," Durrani retorted and in the meantime, PTI MPA's microphone was switched-off that sparked-off a noisy protest from him. He continued shouting and also tore up the assembly's daily agenda copies.
Nisar Khuhro said that the PTI lawmaker has committed contempt of the chair and such a person should be punished for its actions. "None can be given permission to commit contempt of the house," he said, appealing to the speaker to suspend his membership. But, Durrani placated the tense atmosphere saying his sympathy was with Khurrum Sher Zaman. "I want to see him learn as a legislator and make an impact," he said.
Meanwhile, media persons staged protest in the assembly media gallery with placards in hands to demand government to release development funds for the Hawksbay residential scheme allocated for journalists of Karachi Press Club. PPP's Dr Sohrab Sarki and Sindh Excise and Taxation Minister, Mukesh Kumar Chawla came up to assure protesting journalists their problems would be resolved and the issue would also be raised at the assembly floor. Khuhro told the house government would leave no stone unturned to solve their problems at earliest. He vowed government would get the block's occupied plots vacated.
Speaker Durrani also asked Khuhro to explain the government's position on the issue and get the journalists' residential plots freed from occupation.
Earlier, journalists told Mukesh Kumar and Dr Sarki that PPP's Sindh government under chief ministers Abdullah Shah (1996) and Qaim Ali Shah (2009) had allocated residential plots to journalists of KPC at concessional prices in Hawkesbay Society. However, a portion of the land allocated for KPC members was occupied and turned into a graveyard, they informed.