ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Standing Committee on Industries and Production Thursday expressed its concerns over the increase in the price of fertilizers, especially diammonium phosphate (DAP).
Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Usama Qadri chaired the 18th meeting of the committee, said a press release issued here.
MNA Amjad Ali Khan, mover of the bill “The Export Processing Zones Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2019” apprised the committee about the salient features of the said bill.
He said subject to the Constitution, Majlis-e-Shura (Parliament) had exclusive power to make laws with respect to any matter in the Federal Legislative List, frequently enactments empower the government, or specified bodies or office-holders to make rules to carry out the purposes, thereof popularly known as delegated, secondary or subordinate legislation.
He further informed that the rules of both the NA and Senate provided that delegated legislation might be examined by the committees concerned, but practically no effective parliamentary oversight had been made.
Further, in the prevalent legal system it is also a departure from the principle of separation of powers that laws should be made by the elected representatives of the people in Parliament and not by the executive government.
In parliamentary democracies, the principle has been largely preserved through an effective system of parliamentary control of executive law-making, by making provision that copies of all subordinate legislation be laid before each House of the parliament within prescribed sitting days thereof otherwise they cease to have effect.
The representative from Ministry of Law and Justice was also present in the meeting.
He invited the attention of the committee towards the Article 99 of the Constitution Clause (2) and (3) reproduced as under;
The federal government shall by rules specify the manner in which orders and other instruments made and executed in the name of the president shall be authenticated, and the validity of any order or instrument so authenticated shall not be questioned at any court on the grounds that it was not made or executed by the president.
The federal government shall also make rules for the allocation and transaction of its business.
After detailed discussion the committee decided that legal opinion from the Ministry of Law and Justice may be obtained on the bill.
Minister and Secretary Law may also be invited in the meeting of the committee for further deliberation in this regard.
The committee deferred the agenda pertaining to Point of Order, moved by MNA Saira Bano, regarding the booking of MG Vehicles for its next meeting, due to some official engagements of the mover.
The meeting was attended by MNAs Nasir Khan Musa Zai, Muhammad Abdul Ghafar Watto, Syed Mobeen Ahmed, Sahibzada Sibgatullah, Shandana Gulzar Khan, Sajida Begum, Aliya Hamza Malik, Amir Talal Gopang, Ali Gohar Khan, M Perviaz Malik and Rana M Ishaq Khan, besides the senior officers from Ministry of Industries and Production, Ministry of Law and Justice, and MG Automobile Industries.