The Senate on Monday passed three different resolutions unanimously, including promotion of electric vehicles (EVs) and establishment of charging stations network and infrastructure across the country.
Speaking on resolution, moved by Senator Seemee Ezdi, Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz said the government had already approved the Electric Vehicle Policy that would help tackle environmental issues and save billions of rupees oil import bill.
He said people were importing luxury and hybrid vehicles and there was the need for an effective infrastructure to promote the friendly transport system in the country.
Shibli Faraz said the present government also gave incentives on import of parts of electric vehicles and other related machinery, and decrease duty from 25 percent to 10 percent on electric vehicles. The House also passed a resolution, moved by Senator Kamran Murtaza, unanimously to ensure representation of all federating units in the Federal Public Service Commission, Islamabad.
Another resolution passed by the House, called upon the government to take special measures for implementing the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act, 2017, in letter and spirit, establishing a state of the art ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution)/ mediation model in Islamabad’s jurisdiction for providing alternatives to litigation. The resolution was moved by Senator Seemee Ezdi.
While, the House deferred a resolution, moved by Senator Mohammad Humyun Mohammad, that sought necessary constitutional and administrative steps to declare FATA as ‘Rural Area’ of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to protect the quota of erstwhile FATA in government jobs and educational institutions on permanent basis, as was being practiced in Rural Sindh whose quota was separate from Urban Sindh. Commenting on the resolution, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said that 3 percent quota had been reserved for the people of erstwhile FATA till 2030.
He suggested the House to refer the resolution to the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for consultations.
Leader of the Opposition in Senate Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani endorsed the point of view of Ali Muhammad and said that the House should take the opinion from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on the issue.
The Senate passed three bills including the Islamabad Rent Restriction (Amendment) Bill, 2021 aimed at resolving the issues that usually emerge after expiry of agreement between landlord and tenant, without undue delay.
The Islamabad Rent Restriction (Amendment) Bill, 2021, introduced by Senator Mohsin Aziz, was unanimously passed after clause-by-clause reading by Chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani.
Mohsin Aziz said the amendment would help resolve the issue of prolonged litigation due to some flaws in the certain tenancy laws, and provide relief to the petitioners at the earliest.
“This bill will be useful in early evacuation of any rented premises and put it on next lease after expiry of the tenancy agreement,” he said.
The House also approved the bill to amend the Trade Organizations Act, 2013 [The Trade (Amendment) Bill, 2021 that was moved by Senator Fawzia unanimously.
The Senate passed another bill titled “The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2021, amending the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898. It was moved by Senator Shahadat Awan.
Meanwhile, the House held a thorough debate on a bill meant to amend the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 [the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021], and referred to the Council of Islamic Ideology for its views.
The amendment in the bill described that ‘attempt to suicide’ was a ‘sickness’ and not the ‘crime,’ suggesting proper treatment of the person, attempting suicide, instead of giving punishment. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan was of the view that committing suicide was ‘forbidden’ in Islam, and due to sensitivity of the issue the proposed amendment needed further ‘in-depth evaluation.’ Leader of the House Dr Shahzad Waseem said the proposed amendment equated the act of suicide with the mental health’s disorder and suggested no punishment for the person attempting to take his/her life.
“There are a lot of ifs and buts, so its thorough evaluation is needed by scientific and religious aspects,” he said, asking to take the point of view of ulema, religious scholars and scientific experts. Later, Senator Faisal Javed requested the House to withdraw the Bill further to amend the Federal Public Service Commission Ordinance, 1997 [The Federal Public Service Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
He informed the House the relevant authorities had assured the Standing Committee concerned that the FPSC rules would be changed as per the spirit of the proposed amendment, so there was no need for the amendment in the bill. He said the amendment was aimed at evaluating jobs in the FPSC and ensuring merit, and the authorities concerned had assured to bring the required procedural changes in the relevant rules. In due course of time, Faisal Javed, he would bring a ‘comprehensive bill’ mainly to ensure merit in the FPSC jobs.
The House also referred a bill, moved by Senators Seemee Ezdi, Khalida Ateeb and Mushahid Hussain Sayed that was meant for the establishment of Pakistan Psychological Council [The Pakistan Psychological Council Bill, 2021], to the Standing Committee concerned for further deliberation.
