A Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights hearing descended into a heated exchange between Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Abid Sher Ali and Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Aimal Wali Khan on Wednesday during questioning of Suthra Punjab officials over the suicide of a sanitary worker in Gujranwala.

The committee, chaired by Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri, was examining the case of a Gujranwala Waste Management Company employee who took his own life, reportedly after receiving half his salary and having his contract terminated. Khan was pressing Suthra Punjab officials with pointed questions when Ali objected to the tone of questioning, saying, 'Listen to them - you are conducting an inquiry and asking questions as if you are sitting in a police station.'

When a committee member suggested cameras be turned off, Ali said he did not care and was saying nothing wrong. 'Speak properly,' Ali told Khan. 'I am speaking properly - you speak properly too,' Khan shot back. Senator Qurratulain Marri and other committee members stepped in to mediate between the two, while officials presented conflicting timelines regarding the worker's employment status and the enforcement of relevant acts.

The committee directed Suthra Punjab to immediately provide copies of the relevant laws for both 2025 and 2026, and questioned whether the institution had also conducted any redressal process beyond providing a plot to the grieving family.