Islamabad - The Senate was informed on Monday that supremacy of the parliament would be ensured and government might repeal the laws to streamline the procedure for appointment of judges in the superior courts.
Leader of the House Raja Zafarul Haq, while winding up discussion on the motion moved by PPP Senator Farhatullah Bababr, assured the upper house that government would ensure the supremacy of the parliament.
Senator Haq said there should be no conflict among the State institutions, adding that persons of integrity should be appointed as judges of the superior courts.
Farhatullah Babar who moved the motion‚ said the decisions of the parliamentary commission of the house on overseeing the judges appointment has virtually become dysfunctional as the judges dominated Judicial Commission honouring its consent.
Speaking on the motion‚ members from both sides of the divide were of the view that parliamentary commission should be dissolved if its consent was not taken into account. They regretted the committee consisting of eight members four each from government and opposition has been made dysfunctional.
The senators called for convening a joint session of the parliament to review and pass an act to address the issue.
Those who spoke on the occasion include Syed Ghani‚ Karim Ahmed Khawaja‚ Zahid Khan‚ Haji Mohammad Adeel‚ Mushahid Hussain Sayed‚ Raza Rabbani and Syed Zafar Ali Shah.
The house also agreed to set up a special committee to make recommendation on growing water scarcity in the country. The motion was moved by Muhammad Mohsin Khan Legahri. Senator Leghari sought to discuss steps being taken by the government to address the growing water scarcity in the country, which was unanimously admitted. The house was adjourned to meet again today (Tuesday).
Earlier at the outset, Chairman Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari announced panel of presiding officers for the current session. It includes Dr Farogh Naseem‚ Syeda Sughra Imam and Syed Zafar Ali Shah.
This was followed by introduction of Civil Servants Amendment Bill 2013 moved by Ilyas Ahmed Bilour seeking to amend the Civil Servants Act 1973. The proposed bill was referred to the concerned committee of the house.
Prior to commencement of the 99th session, the House Business Advisory Committee also met and decided that the current session would continue for two weeks. Leader of the House in Senate Raja Zafarul Haq, Senator Aitzaz Ahsan and other members attended the meeting of the committee.