By
Media Monitor Desk
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee for Law
and Justice has approved the National Reconciliation Ordinance
(NRO) with some amendments and sent it to the National Assembly.
The meeting of the committee was held here on Friday with its
chairperson Nasim Akhtar Chaudhry and was attended by Naveed
Qamar, Shakila Khanum Rashid, Fakhar-un-Nisa Khokar, Zafar Ali
Shah, Tariq Shabir, Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor of PPP, Independent
candidate Saeed Ahmad Zafar, Anusha Rehman, Justice (Retd)
Iftikhar Ahmad Cheema, Zahid Hamid and Saira Afzal Tariq of
PML-N, Amir Muqam and Raza Hayat Hiraj of PML-Q and Riaz Fityana
from PML-Q forward bloc.
The amendment made to section 7 of the NRO says corruption
cases pending against any MNA or government official would not
be ended without the permission of court, while under sections 4
and 5, conditions regarding arrests of MNAs or MPAs have been
deleted in connection with the permission of parliament’s
special ethics committee.
The committee decided that the NRO would be enforced w.e.f
October 5, 2007 and people who had availed the ordinance till
today would enjoy security.
During voting on the ordinance, committee members of PML-N
boycotted the meeting against the approval of the ordinance in
hast, while two members of PML-Q opposed and PML-Q forward bloc
avoided voting.
The committee in its meeting reviewed in detail section-wise
of the ordinance and conducted voting and approved the first
section with 6 to 1, under which the NRO would enforced with
effect from October 5, 2007 and under section 2, civil and
criminal cases registered for political victimization between
01-01-1986 to October 12, 1999 would be ended, while the federal
and provincial governments can set up review board for ending
such cases.
Under section 3 approved by the committee, section 39 of the
public representation act 1976 has been amended, which bounds
the returning officer to provide copy of election results to the
contesting candidate or its poling agent after devising results.
Objecting to the section, PML-N proposed that it should be
made part of wide electoral reforms and it is related with NRO
and after that the committee deleted sections 4 and 5 of NRO
from the law on the demands of PML-N, which made mandatory the
permission of parliament’s special ethics committee for
arresting MNAs or MPAs.
PML-N Zahid Hamid said under the above sections, the
parliamentarians had supremacy over common man, which is clear
violation of article 25A of the Constitution, however these
sections had been deleted on our demands and now civil and
criminal cases could be registered against MNAs and MPAs.
The committee approved section 6, which says court cannot
give verdict against any person without his presence and also
approved section 7 under which corruption cases against any
person could not be ended without the permission of court.
Talking to media persons after the meeting, committee
Chairperson Nasim Akhtar Chaudhry said NRO was the law of
dictator and we had no intention to review it, however it was
done on the directions of Supreme Court and the present court
respects the judiciary.
