Speaker’s ruling on PM challengeable: experts

Top legal experts believe that the NA speaker’s ruling against the disqualification of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani was challengeable in any court of law and that the NA speaker enjoyed immunity only on parliament’s proceedings under Article 69, not about her individual decisions as the speaker.
SM Zafar said, “This decision was to be challenged from day one. The speaker’s decision is in her own individual capacity and not by parliament. It has also nothing to do with the parliamentary proceedings and rather it is a decision in her personal capacity.”
He said the speaker enjoyed immunity regarding her rulings on parliamentary proceedings. “But this decision was not on parliamentary proceedings. This decision is challengeable.”
Justice (r) Tariq Mehmood said the speaker’s ruling “can be challenged”.
He said Article 69 prohibited the speaker’s ruling on proceedings of parliament. “This is a decision in her personal capacity. There is a precedence of a case of Sindh Assembly in 1992,” he said.
Justice (r) Wajihuddin Ahmed said the speaker had immunity under some constitutional provisions which were strictly about the speaker’s rulings on parliamentary proceedings.
He said he himself, in the capacity of Chief Justice of Sindh High Court, had decided a similar petition against a decision by the then Senate chairman Wasim Sajjad in year 1998 regarding oath to President Asif Ali Zardari as a senator. “The Senate chairman had ruled that he could only issue production orders for a member of the House but he could not do so for a senator-elect. However, the Sindh High Court bench, headed by me, overturned Wasim Sajjad’s decison,” he said, adding that the case was also decided Zardari’s favour by the apex court and this case had also been reported in the journal of 1998.
He said in Indian constitution, the speaker had immunity but the case was different in Pakistan’s constitution. He said the ruling by speaker could be challenged in any court of law.