Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
Senate Standing Committee on Law & Justice, under the Chairmanship of Senator & Barrister Syed Ali Zafar on Wednesday discussed two important constitutional amendments.
The first amendment related to Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution under which if a person is not sagacious, honest and ameen then he is liable to be disqualified as the member of the Parliament. The amendment proposed that the word “ameen” be deleted.
Barrister Zafar suggested that the wording of Article 62(1)(f) is vague because it is highly difficult to determine who is sagacious and advised that a debate should take place on the matter. The Committee members suggested that it should also be debated as to whether there should be any time limit set if the person is disqualified under Article 62(1)(f) .
Barrister Zafar pointed out that the matter of time limit has been settled by the Supreme Court in a judgment in which it has been decided that if a person is found to be dishonest then he disqualifies from being a member for life.
However, Barrister Zafar further pointed out that this was for the Parliament to debate and decide if they want to restrict the time limit of disqualification for future matters.
The Chairman then directed the Law Ministry to provide a written reply as to whether the Law Ministry is accepting or opposing the amendment and also directed the Islamic Ideology Council to give its comments.
The second constitutional amendment related to Article 142 which was moved by Senator Farooq H. Naek to the effect that power should be given to the Federal Legislature to make amendments in the Civil Procedure Code, Contract Act and other matters.
