ISLAMABAD, Oct 12: The National Assembly rejected on Tuesday two bills moved by the opposition on private member's day seeking amendment to the High Treason Act and replacing the existing law on access to information.

The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) bill to amend the High Treason (Punishment) Act, 1973, and PPP MNA Sherry Rehman's Freedom of Information bill were defeated by majority vote.

The house debated the drought situation in the country and the performance of the Pakistani contingent at the Athens Olympics 2004. The MMA's bill, moved by 34 members, including Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Maulana Fazlur Rahman, sought amendment to Section 3 of Article 6 which provides that the government alone could move the Supreme Court in cases of high treason involving abrogation, suspension or subversion of the Constitution.

Qazi Hussain said that under the High Treason Act only the government could move the Supreme Court to propose punishment to a person abrogating or subverting the Constitution. As a result every usurper had escaped the punishment proposed under the act, he added.

He alleged that the present government consisted of persons equally involved in abrogation and subversion of the Constitution and so could not move the court. Through the bill the MMA had suggested that any citizen of Pakistan should be able to move the court for meting out the punishment under the act, he said.

The MMA parliamentary leader said: "The amendment sought by the religious alliance would stop the imposition of martial law in future and the country would get rid of dictatorial rules."

Kunwar Khalid Yunas of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement proposed that the amended law should hold all the previous martial laws punishable instead of focussing on a particular case.

MMA leader Liaquat Baloch said the proposed amendment was not time specific and it could encompass all the previous eras when the Constitution was abrogated or its Article 6 was violated.

Earlier, speaking on her 'Freedom of Information' bill, Sherry Rehman claimed that media organizations had rejected government's 'freedom of press law' as 'disinformation law' and said the legislation sought to be moved by her would end ambiguity.

She said under the existing law information could be denied under the cover of 'national interest'. It deprives the citizens the right to know about the 'wrongs' that were committed in various departments.

Shery Rehman said declassification did not exist in government's piece of law which the new bill sought to provide. The proposed law would also give protection against intimidation or removal from service of any officer who wanted to disseminate information about corruption or irregularities of any individual of his department.

MNA Hafiz Hussain Ahmed of the MMA supported the bill and proposed sending it to the house committee concerned. However, the minister for parliamentary affairs, Dr Sher Afgan, opposed the legislation in, what he claimed, presence of a comprehensive law which was enacted in consultation with all the stakeholders including APNS, CPNE and NRB.

Earlier, the House witnessed some anxious moments before speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain deferred discussion on the privilege motion sought to be moved by Mr Afgan. The privilege motion said that he was grilled and coerced into submission by the opposition members on Monday despite his statement of dissociation from a statement alleging that he had used derogatory remarks against the people of Sindh.

The minister produced clippings of his rebuttal that was published in the same Sindhi language newspaper which had attributed to him the alleged derogatory remarks. He demanded the opposition should apologize to the former prime minister, Zafarullah Khan Jamali, for pressuring him to tender apology.

PPP MNA Khurshid Shah expressed regret for the misunderstanding while other opposition leaders Raja Parvez Ashraf, Syed Zafar Ali Shah and Yusuf Talpur insisted that they had rightly demanded that the minister should produce the newspaper clippings in which he had rebutted the statement attributed to him.

The Speaker, who had admitted the privilege motion of the opposition against Mr Afgan on Monday deferred further discussion on the motion and took up rest of the agenda in hand. Gian Chand Singh on a point of order expressed dismay over the lack of action against the culprits who had attacked Gurdwara Nankanasahib.