LAHORE: The Punjab Cabinet Standing Committee on Legislative Business (Legislation) has approved the most important amendment in the Punjab Vagrancy Ordinance 1958. According to documents obtained by The News, the law previously referred to a child begging under 14 years of age. According to the new amendments in the law, there will be action and severe punishment against the organiser of systematic begging and the mastermind of begging mafia. According to the Punjab Vagrancy Ordinance 1958, the maximum punishment for vagrancy was three years, but according to the new amendments, the punishment is only three years, but the maximum limit has been abolished.
In the new amendments, giving employment to beggars will be punishable with imprisonment of three years and a fine of Rs100,000. According to the amendments approved by the Standing Committee on Legislative Business of the Punjab Cabinet, a person who employs five persons by exhibition and for the purpose of begging shall be a non-bailable offense with a minimum term of 3 years and a maximum term of imprisonment for 5 years while a fine of minimum three lakh and maximum five lakh rupees will be imposed.
In case of non-payment of fine, he will have to spend another 6 months in prison. The same punishment will be repeated in case of committing this offence again. According to the new amendments, a person who employs more than five persons through exhibition and for the purpose of begging will be punished with a minimum of 5 to 7 years and a minimum fine of 3 lakhs and a maximum of 5 lakhs. In case of non-payment of the fine, one more year of imprisonment shall be served.
According to the amendments to be made by the Punjab Cabinet’s Standing Committee on Legislative Business, the organizer of organized begging and soliciting business will be imprisoned for a minimum of 7 and a maximum of 10 years, while a minimum of Rs10 lakh and a maximum of Rs20 lakh fine will be imposed. In case of non-payment of fine, 2 more years of imprisonment will have to be served. In case of repetition of the said crime, the same punishment will be given again.
The Punjab Cabinet’s Standing Committee on Legislative Business has also approved making all bailable offenses under The Punjab Vagrancy Ordinance 1958 non-bailable.