A few days after it became the subject of an intense debate on the floor of the National Assembly, a parliamentary committee is set to take up a proposed bill on ‘contempt of parliament’.
The committee will meet on Tuesday and its agenda includes ‘Discussion on the draft Bill regarding contempt of Parliament’.
Multiple members of the assembly had spoken in strong terms about the a supreme court order that said that by not approving funding for the elections in Punjab, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had either lost the house’s confidence or the proceeding had been anomalous.
The speaker had then announced that he would write a letter to Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and convey the apprehensions and emotions expressed by the member.
However, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had said a letter ‘is not enough’ and the matter must be referred to the rules of procedure and privileges committee. He added that the matter had amounted to ‘contempt of parliament’.
The speaker had later written to the CJP complaining that he should stay out of the ‘political thicket’ as making laws and presiding over the purse was a prerogative of the parliament.
The matter is the latest development in a long developing confrontation between the parliament and the judiciary that began over elections to the dissovled assembly in Punjab. The NA has already passed a bill clipping the CJ’s powers to form benches and take suo motu notices, which was benned by the court from taking effect.
