Submission on Article 66.

To

Honorable Justice Asif Saeed Khosa,

Supreme Court of Pakistan,

Islamabad.

Sir,

After following the proceedings of the court on Panama Papers today, I feel compelled to seek your permission to make the following submissions of which the court would perhaps be already aware.

Article 66 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan reads as follows:

66. Privileges of members, etc.- (1) Subject to the Constitution and to the

rules of procedure of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), there shall be freedom of

speech in Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) and no member shall be liable to any

proceedings in any court in respect of anything said or any vote given by him in

Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), and no person shall be so liable in respect of the

publication by or under the authority of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) of any report,

paper, votes or proceedings.

The key words in this clause are “anything said or any vote given by him in

Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament),”

This provision of immunity has been made irrelevant by Article 63A inserted in the 18^th Amendment which reads as follows:

63A Disqualification on grounds of defection, etc.- (1) If a member of a Parliamentary Party composed of a single political party in a House-

(a) resigns from membership of his political party or joins another Parliamentary Party; or

(b) votes or abstains from voting in the House contrary to any direction issued by the

Parliamentary Party to which he belongs, in relations to-

(i) election of the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister; or

(ii) a vote of confidence or a vote of no-confidence; or

(iii) a Money Bill;

he may be declared in writing by the Head of the Parliamentary Party to have defected

from the political party, and the Head of the Parliamentary Party may forward a copy of the declaration to the Presiding Officer, and shall similarly forward a copy thereof to the

member concerned:

Provided that before making the declaration, the Head of the Parliamentary Party shall

provide such member with an opportunity to show cause as to why such declaration may not be made against him.

This clearly means that the vote cast or sound of Aay or Nay made by a member of the House is subject to proceeding in the court of the Head of the Parliamentary Party. There is no reason why a speech or statement should be exempted. In fact the stipulations of Article 63G should also be subject to scrutiny by a court of law.

Finally, Clause 63A (5) states as follows:

(5) Any party aggrieved by the decision of the Election Commission may within thirty days, prefer an appeal to the Supreme Court which shall decide the matter within three months from the date of the filing of the appeal.

This without doubt means that the Supreme Court of Pakistan is the final arbiter of the conduct of a member of any house of Parliament in Pakistan within the Parliament or outside.

Sent to: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk