ISLAMABAD: The legal, constitutional
experts and retired judges are unanimous that
Speaker National Assembly cannot issue any ruling to
stop media from reporting the
word ‘Selected Prime Minister’. The ruling is a violation of Article 19 of the Constitution of Pakistan, believe the experts.Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaisar issued a verbal ruling that the
media cannot report the
word ‘Selected Prime Minister’ as it has been expunged
from the proceedings of the house.However, the
experts believe that as per the rules of procedure and conduct of business in the National Assembly the
Speaker is responsible only for internal control of the Lower House. He has no control outside the National Assembly therefore, he cannot give any ruling that what should be reported and what not.Justice (R) Nasira Javed Iqbal while talking to The News said there is no provision in the assembly rules or in the Constitution that
Speaker can prohibit
media from reporting. “As for as I know, there is no provision in the Constitution of Pakistan or the assembly rules that the
Speaker of the assembly will prohibit the
media from using any specific
word like ‘Selected Prime Minister’. The Constitution or the laws are not made for these kind of petty issues”, commented Justice (R) Nasira Javed Iqbal.“Can the
Speaker National Assembly erase the
word ‘Selected’
from entire world’s dictionaries”, she asked. The
Speaker cannot issue any ruling for
media that what to report and what not, she said.Talking to The News, former chairman Senate, Senator Raza Rabbani said the
Speaker has no powers to
stop media from reporting on any issue. However, if he has expunged the
word ‘Selected Prime Minister’ then
media can simply report this fact that
Speaker has erased this
word from assembly proceedings.“The
media should avoid
using any
word if it has been expunged
from the assembly proceeding. However, the
Speaker of the National Assembly has no authority for issuing the ruling to prohibit the
media from reporting”, commented Senator Raza Rabbani.Former chairman Senate, Waseem Sajjad, while talking to The News, said the
Speaker has the powers to control the assembly proceedings only. What happened outside the assembly is not his business. Therefore, he cannot issue any ruling to prohibit the
media from reporting on any issue. When asked if the
Speaker has expunged a specific
word ‘Selected Prime Minister’
from the assembly proceeding can the
media report it, the former Senate chairman said the
media can report only that the
Speaker has expunged this specific word.Former president Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Kamran Murtaza, while talking to The News, said the
Speaker ruling is a violation of Constitution of Pakistan. “By giving this ruling, the
Speaker of the National Assembly has violated Article 19 of the Constitution of Pakistan. He cannot snub people’s right of freedom of speech. After this ruling someone can file a reference against the
Speaker National Assembly because he has violated the Constitution”, commented the former SCBA president.He however, said the
media can report the facts only that the opposition parties called Prime Minister Imran Khan a ‘Selected Prime Minister’ but the
Speaker expunged these words
from assembly proceedings.
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