Senate Body Considers Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published January 19, 2022 | 09:03 PM

The Senate's Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat Committee on Wednesday considered "The Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2021" moved by Senator Afnan Ullah Khan, in the House on January 17

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Jan, 2022 ) :The Senate's Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat Committee on Wednesday considered "The Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2021" moved by Senator Afnan Ullah Khan, in the House on January 17.

The private bill was originally moved by Jam Abdul Karim Bijar, Syed Agha Rafiullah and Abdul Qadir Patel in the National Assembly, which passed it on November 9, 2021 The bill seeks amendment in Section 5 of the Civil Servants Act. 1973 with a view to lay down an enabling provision so that a civil servant holding dual nationality or citizenship of any foreign country shall not be entitled for appointment.

The committee met here at the Parliament House with Senator Rana Maqbool Ahmad in the chair. The meeting was attended by senators Afnan Ullah Khan, Saadia Abbasi, Kamil Ali Agha, Saifullah Khan Nyazee and Mushtaq Ahmed, and senior officials from the Establishment Division and the Law Ministry.

Senator Saadia Abbasi viewed that there should be a comprehensive briefing regarding the impact of the amendment before moving ahead with further consideration of the bill.

Supporting the bill, Senator Mushtaq Ahmad opined that dual Pakistani nationals took oath of allegiance when they accepted any foreign Nationality in which they reiterated that they would stay loyal and even fight for that particular country. "How can we allow dual nationals on sensitive positions of the civil service?" he asked.

Senator Afnan Ullah Khan said there had been examples in the past that dual national officers made important decisions on the last day of their service before retirement and after that they left the country forever. "Why only lawmakers are barred from having dual nationality?" he questioned.

The committee chairman decided that a comprehensive briefing was required in order to understand the impact of the Amendment. He directed that verbatim of debate on the bill in the National Assembly be provided to members before next meeting of the committee.