ISLAMABAD – Legislators in the Upper House of parliament on Friday demanded authorities take notice of the Lahore incident involving the death of three young men by US citizens, without showing any leniency.
“The law should take its own course and the culprit be punished under the law of the land,” the senators demanded. They were of the view that a thorough probe should be conducted into the incident to ascertain whether the accused was associated with any spy agency.
Senators, including Professor Ibrahim, Zafar Ali Shah, Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Ishaq Dar, Professor Khurshid, Abdur Rahim Mandokhel, Seemen Siddiqui, Haroon Akhtar and Hafiz Rashid condemned the incident and asked the government to hold a fair trial of the accused without succumbing to the foreign pressure. Leader of the House Nayyar Hussain Bokhari assured the House that no leniency would be shown in this particular case and justice would be done.
On a point of order Senator Nilofar Bakhtiar condemned the murder of former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer and criticised those who garlanded the murderer, Mumtaz Qadri. The House also offered fateha for the late governor. The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2011 was introduced in the House and subsequently sent to the committee concerned.
Under the proposed bill, it would be mandatory for the voter to produce his national identity card issued by NADRA before casting his vote. The proposed law also suggested imprisonment upto five years or fine of upto Rs 5 million or both for an employee of the Election Commission who disclosed secret information or data. The House passed The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill 2010.
The National Assembly had already passed the bill and it would become law once it gets the president’s consent. The adviser to prime minister on political affairs laid before the House the Federal Public Service Commission’s annual report for the year 2009.
