The Senate Standing Committee on Interior on Friday passed “The Mutual Legal Assistance (Criminal Matters)(Amendment) Bill, 2021.
The committee meeting which met here under the Chairmanship of Senator Mohsin Aziz passed the bill with a majority vote after detailed deliberations. Chairman Committee Senator Mohsin Aziz said that members of the committee can present their observations in writing and the bill can be amended any time.
Earlier, the standing committee discussed “The Mutual Legal Assistance (Criminal Matters)(Amendment) Bill, 2021, referred by the house on June 18.
Director-General FATF briefed the committee about The Mutual legal Assistance Bill in detail. Senator Rana Maqbool Ahmad, Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar, Senator Shahadat Awan raised some observations on the bill.
Senator Samina Mumtaz Convener of the Senate Sub-committee on Interior submitted the progress report of the Sub-committee constituted on “The Islamabad Capital Territory Food Safety Bill 2020” which was adopted by the standing committee.
On the issue of the dilapidated condition of the corridors, galleries, and open spaces of the Parliament Lodges the members of the committee expressed their serious reservations of the situation and over the absence of chairman Capital Development Authority (CDA) in the standing committee meeting.
Members of the committee were of the view that in the absence of the concerned authority it would not be fruitful to discuss the dilapidated condition of the lodges.
Chairman committee Senator Mohsin Aziz directed that chairman CDA should ensure his presence in the next meeting.
Deputy Director Immigration informed the committee about the status of the directions of Chairman Senate Mohammad Sadiq Sanjrani regarding the amendments in the passport and visa manual 2006. He told the committee that all the suggestions would be incorporated within the next two months.
The matter of public petition regarding redressal of grievance referred by the Chairman Senate was discussed in detail. Director FIA briefed the committee about the matter and said that it was a business deal.
He told the committee that the matter could not come under the ambit of the FIA to deal with such cases. Chairman committee Senator Mohsin Aziz directed that FIA should get guidelines from the Ministry of Law to handle the matter.
He said the same category cases were increasing day by day and it would also be a good gesture for the overseas Pakistanis to feel protected in their homeland.
Senator Saifullah Abro raised the matter of the lawlessness prevailing in Larkana and other parts of the province in detail.
He said the IG Sindh did not bother to attend parliamentarian’s calls, and his behaviour is not acceptable. If the IG did not give importance to parliamentarians what would happen to the common citizens, he questioned.
Upon this, the chairman committee directed IG Sindh to appear before the committee to clear the matter in the next meeting.
Senator Syed Faisal Ali Sabzwari raised the recent harassment case of Usman Mirza in the meeting which was viral on social media in the federal capital. The standing committee took suo moto action on the matter and decided to get a detailed briefing from the concerns in the next meeting. The Standing Committee meeting was attended by Senators Rana Maqbool Ahmad, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Moula Bux Chandio, Saifullah Abro, Samian Mumtaz, Faisal Saleem Rahman, Shahadat Awan, Fawzia Arshad, Syed Faisal Ali Subzwari, Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti, and Dilawar Khan. Additional Secretary Interior, Director General FATF, Director FIA, DD immigration, and other concerned officials also attended the meeting.
