ISLAMABAD, May 2: The ministry of defence shocked the National Assembly on Wednesday with information that all was not well with the country’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) whose antiquated air traffic control system, it said, could imperil even VVIP flights.

In a rare move, Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain called for a detailed official report about the situation by May 15 after parliamentary secretary for defence Tanvir Hussain Syed gave the information in response to a call-attention notice from three ruling party members taken up during an opposition walkout and partly blamed ‘buddyism’ for a perceived inefficiency that he said his ministry would not countenance any more.

“Now we are going to be very, very strict with them ... because even the VVIP (very, very important persons) flights can also be compromised (by the situation),” the parliamentary secretary said.

The Speaker suggested to refer the matter to a house committee for a probe but, on a demand by Mr Syed for more time, ordered that the department concerned brief the parliamentary secretary who must submit a report by May 15.

The call-attention notice by Pakistan Muslim League members Ms Mehnaz Rafi, Miss Gule Farkhanda and Sardar Sikandar Hayat had complained about “non-upgradation of the air traffic control system at various airports” of the country that it said had resulted in “recent major catastrophic incidents”.

The parliamentary secretary said an efficient air traffic control system was a must for the safety of civilian planes leaving from or landing at Pakistani airports -- one after every three minutes -- and added: “We are going to order upgradation of the radars on a crash basis.”

Mr Syed said the situation had worsened after a CAA calibration plane went out of order in November last year and a requisitioned Pakistan Air Force plane was also not well-equipped for the job.

At one time, he said, the CAA system could not detect an Indian civilian plane that entered Pakistan and went back to India after circling over an airport.

He blamed air control lapses for last year’s PIA Fokker crash in Multan that killed 45 people, saying the plane had headed for India before it was called back.

The secretary told the house that an inquiry report of the crash was still “not with us but (lying) somewhere else” about which, he said, he could not speak in the house.

Answering questions from the authors of the notice, Mr Syed said the present CAA director-general had come from the petroleum industry “without even a distant connection with civil aviation” and that the ministry had found “to our horror” that some CAA officers had undertaken ‘illegal’ foreign trips probably with the CAA chief’s permission but without the ministry’s permission for which an inquiry had been ordered.

All opposition parties had staged the protest walkout and triggered a suspension of the proceedings for some time for lack of quorum after the Speaker declined to allow MMA member Maulana Asadullah Khan to speak about being injured in the head allegedly by a police baton-charge outside the Supreme Court earlier in the day when suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry appeared before the Supreme Judicial Council there.

Maulana Asadullah, who has sought to move a privilege motion about the incident, which the Speaker deferred until Thursday, was wearing a white cap that showed a large blood stain over his forehead.

The opposition members returned to the house afterwards and some of them, including PPP secretary-general Raja Pervez Ashraf and Liaquat Baloch of the MMA, protested against the attitude of police, which they said had even seized trucks that had brought water or sherbet for thirsty demonstrators outside the Supreme Court.

“This was like Karbala where Yazid stopped water for Imam Hussain,” remarked MMA member Farid Ahmad Piracha.

Law and Justice Minister Mohammad Wasi Zafar said the trucks were stopped because they could carry petrol for causing fire and added that one truck supposed to be bringing food for the demonstrators contained ‘dandas’ (sticks).

Minister of State for Interior Zafar Iqbal Warraich regretted the injury suffered by the MMA member and promised to make a statement about the incident on Thursday, when the house is due to meet at 5pm.