ISLAMABAD: Senators and officials of the Law Ministry put off for a month deliberations on the proposed bill, aims at amending the law to add stringent punishment for those responsible for the enforced disappearance of citizens. The panel, however, passed with majority a bill to monitor movement of individuals convicted of committing sex crimes.
The forum also deliberated on proposed laws regarding completion of housing projects in Islamabad.
This was discussed on Friday during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior. The committee met at the Parliament House with Senator Mohsin Aziz in the chair. During the meeting, the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was explored in detail. The proposed bill was sent to the Senate after approval by the National Assembly.
The bill proposes adding new sections including 52B, 512, 513 and 514 to the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) apart from amendments to the Schedule II of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). During the meeting, the Interior Secretary suggested that a meeting of the committee chaired by the Law Minister will soon be held on the proposed bill. Hence, he contended that the committee ought to postpone its consideration of the bill until then.
Separately, representatives from the Law Ministry were of the view that the amendments proposed in the bill are present in the existing law and that there is no need for legislation to add the proposed sections.
The committee chairman ultimately deferred discussion on the bill for a month after seeking opinions from committee members.
Monitoring sex criminals
The committee also considered the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Prosecution) (Amendment) Bill, 2022.
The bill also seeks to add new sections – 24A, 24B and 24C – to the existing law and was moved by Senator Mohsin Aziz.
Aziz explained that the purpose of the bill is to monitor the movement of individuals involved in sex crimes within the country so that these convicts cannot go to another city in Pakistan and commit such crimes again.
Minister of State for Law, Senator Shahadat Awan, opposed the approval of the bill without consulting the provinces first.
The committee members ultimately approved the bill following a majority vote.
Maternity benefits
The Islamabad Capital Territory Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Bill, 2022, was presented by Senator Fawzia Arshad for consideration in the committee.
Committee members unanimously approved the bill after due deliberations.
Housing societies bill
The committee also deliberated on the Capital Development Authority (Amendment) Bill 2022. The bill had been introduced by Senator Fawzia Arshad.
The purpose of the bill is to determine those responsible and to punish them for delays in completing housing projects in different sectors of the federal capital.
During Friday’s meeting, CDA officials and Islamabad Chief Commissioner requested to amend several clauses of the bill.
The committee chairman suggested that a procedure should be devised so that new projects and schemes should not be approved until the completion of ongoing projects so that grants can be issued to projects in time.
The committee members approved the bill after the necessary amendments. In the light of the previous instructions of the committee.
A question raised by Senator Fida Muhammad Khan on shifting of the Libraries Department to Sector H-9 Islamabad was also considered.
ICT chief commissioner assured the committee that a director general for the department will be appointed within a week.
Aziz directed that the seniority of the employees should not be affected by the new appointment and the transfer of the department.
The committee meeting was attended by Senators, Maula Bux Chandio, Saifullah Abro, Shahadat Awan, Fawzia Arshad, Kamil Ali Agha, Dilawar Khan, Fida Muhammad, Chief Commissioner Islamabad, CDA and officials from Ministry of Interior.
