ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday took a firm position on parliament`s supremacy and referred the matter of non-compliance with production orders for PTI lawmaker Ejaz Chaudhary to the privileges committee.

`As per rule 71 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 2012, disobedience of the Orders of the Chairman Senate consti-tutes a breach of privilege.

Such disregard for parliamentary authority cannot be allowed to persist unchecked, as it threatens the institutional integrity ofthe Senate and the broader democratic framework,` the chairman ruled as he made first appearance before the upper house of parliament after his first order requiring production of Senator Ejaz was defied.

Mr Gilani, who was equally welcomed in the house by both sides of the aisle, gave the ruling after PTI leader Aon AbbasBappi`s emotional speech. The PTI lawmaker, who was brought to the house in partial compliance with production orders issued a day earlier, narrated the story ofhis arrest.The Senate chairman said his only endeavour was to uphold the supremacy of parliament, rule of law and constitutional dictates.About Mr Bappi`s arrest, he said under Rule 79 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 2012, it is explicitly provided that when a case is registered against a member, or a member is arrested on a criminal charge, convicted, or detained under an executive order, the committing judge, magistrate, or executive authority is duty-bound to immediately intimate such fact to the Senate chairman, indicating the reasons for the arrest, detention, or imprisonment of the member in theappropriate form as prescribed in the Second Schedule.

`Regrettably, no such intimation was received by my office in this instance, reflecting a clear violation of established parliamentary procedures and disregard for institutional protocol,` Mr Gilani regretted.

On Friday, he added, he had issued production orders once again for Senator Ejaz Chaudhry and Senator Bappi. In partial compliance with the orders, Senator Bappi was produced before the Senate on Saturday, but `the directives concerning Senator Ejaz Chaudhry have not been fulfilled, amounting to non-compliance with the lawful orders of the chair`.

While narrating the story of his arrest, PTI senator Bappi said around 20 individuals came to his house at 8:30am on March 6. `They first broke my front door, then they tied up all my house workers at one place,` he alleged, adding that he and his wife were sleeping in their bedroom when `they banged its door so forcefully that the lock broke and they just entered`. He said he was grabbed from collar, dragged outside and made to sit in a vehicle. A `joint operation` was conducted as his factory, too, was raided, he added.

Mr Bappi said the individuals had threatened to jail his 16-year-old son along with him if mobile phones were not handed over to them when he told them that he had forgot where he had kept them. Detailing his subsequent court appearance, the lawmaker said he was then sent on a one-day remand.

Comparing his case to the ones filed against Fawad Chaudhry and Shehryar Afridi at the same police stations, Senator Bappi termed the hunting charges `respectable`. He said Fawad was accusedof stealing taps from mosque while a wheat theft case had been registered against Mr Afridi.

He said his actual `fault` was running a campaign against inflation in south Punjab, staying loyal to Imran Khan, and raising his voice for incarcerated PTI leaders. `These are my faults for which I have faced punishment for two days and might face it in the future as well,` he claimed.

The hall echoed with the slogans of `long live Imran Khan`, when Senator Bappi vowed to stay loyal to the party founder, no matter how many times he was arrested. Noting that the agony faced by him was only a fraction of what Senator Ejaz Chaudhry had endured, he asked the chair to cancel his production orders until his ailing colleague is brought to the house.

`In this comfort I remember Ejaz Chaudhary. I don`t think it would be apt for me to sit in the house. I would prefer to stay in jail,` he remarked before walking towards the exit to leave the house. But he was stopped by the chair telling him that he is about to give a ruling.

`Good to see you` Soon after the chairman`s ruling leader of the opposition in the house, Syed Shibli Faraz said `Good to see you` had become a loaded term so he will wel-come Mr Gilani.

`Your presence has raised stature of the house,` the opposition leader said. He noted that the positions taken by individuals holding important offices determine thelevelofrespectthey deserve.

He congratulated Asad Qasim, who took oath as senator at the outset of the proceedings and pointed out that the resignation of his father Qasim Roonjho had instantly been accepted and scheduled to fill the vacancy was immediately announced. `...perhaps we are the children of a lesser God`, he remarked, recalling that the resignation of PTI senator Dr Sania Nishtar submitted on Sept 18 last year was yet to be accepted.

He also regretted that the Senate was incomplete and had no representation from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

`How can be Senate called House of Federation under the present circumstances,` he asked and sought to know the reason for depriving people of KP of their right to have representation in the upper house of parliament.

He also complained that the Supreme Court`s judgement on reserved seats had not been implemented till date. He praised Mr Gilani for issuing production orders, but stressed their objective would be achieved only when Mr Chaudhary was producedinthehouse.