Senate passes Contempt of Parliament Bill

ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Monday unanimously passed the Contempt of Parliament Bill.

The Contempt of Parliament Bill was introduced by Senator Kauda Babar and was approved along with several other bills.

The Senate passed eight bills within the single day including the “Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2023”,

The others bills include “The Contempt of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) Bill, 2023”,  “The Horizon University Bill, 2023”, “National University for Security Sciences, Islamabad bi11,2022”, “NFC Institute of Engineering and Technology Multan (Amendment) Bill” 2023”, Pakistan Institute of Management, Sciences and Technology Bill, 2023,” “The Pakistan Nursing Council (Amendment) Bill, 2023” and “The Trade Organizations (Amendment) Bill, 2022.”

Contempt of Parliament

In May this year, the National Assembly on Tuesday passed the Contempt of Parliament Bill 2023 with majority vote,

The bill was introduced in the lower house and was presented by the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges chairman Qasim Noon.

Talking on the floor, Qasim Noon raised questions on the supremacy of the parliament. He said those disrespecting the lower house of the parliament should be held accountable.

The National Assembly earlier given clause-wise approval of the Bill which envisages a punishment of two to six years and a fine of one million rupees for any violation.  The law will be applicable to the officials of government, state institutions as well as the general public.

A parliamentary committee comprising 24 members, with equal share from the treasury and the opposition benches, would inquire into the cases, The committee will then suggest punishment that will be finalised by the leader of the house.