ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani on Wednesday asked the government to take the parliamentary leaders in the Senate into confidence on the under discussion legislation for setting up military courts. In his remarks on a point raised by Senator Usman Kakar that consultation was only carried out with the parliamentary leaders in the National Assembly and nobody from the Senate was invited for this purpose. “If a bill comes, it shall have to be passed by both the Houses. Therefore, you cannot exclude Parliamentary Leaders from the Senate from this consultation process”, the chairman remarked. Law Minister Zahid Hamid informed the House that it was preliminary consultation just to have a viewpoint whether any such law could be brought in. “Whenever there will be an opinion to have such a bill, a broad-based consultation shall be arranged to evolve consensus,” he added. To which the chairman said that if any final decision had to be made on the issue, the Senate should not be taken as granted and its parliamentary leaders must also be consulted. Meanwhile, the National Accountability (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 was disapproved through a resolution in Senate. Taj Haider, on behalf of his colleagues, moved the resolution. The resolution was passed with 33 votes in favour while 21 in against. The law minister urged opposition to withdraw the resolution or go for voting. He said the Supreme Court had suspended the National Accountability Bureau (NAB)’s plea bargain and voluntarily return sections into the matter. Raza Rabbani said such a comprehensive accountability law should be devised under which judiciary, civil and establishment could be made accountable under one roof. Hamid informed the Senate that the government issued clear instructions for hunting of houbara bustard. Briefing the House in response to a calling attention notice, the minister said the licences were issued by the provincial government. However, the federal government issued general instructions about hunting. He said Houbara Bustard migrates to Thal, Thar, Cholistan and areas of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during winter season and the federal government and the Foreign Affairs Ministry only have a role in assignment of hunting areas in consultation with the respective provincial governments. Separately, the Senate adopted a resolution to form a special committee to examine the existing condition of Bacha Khan Airport in Peshawar. Water and Power Minister Khawaja Asif said national water policy will be announced after approval of the Council of Common Interests. Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi informed the Senate that the government was pursuing implementation of the Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline Project.