Senate passes bill to ban smoking in cinema houses

ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed ‘The West Pakistan Prohibition of Smoking in Cinema Houses (Repeal) Bill, 2018’, saying all such relevant provisions of the bill were already covered in Non smokers Health Ordinance, 2002. 

The bill was moved in Senate by Minister for National Health Services Aamir Mehmood Kiyani.

Minister said after enactment of the Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non Smokers Health Ordinance 2002, the law had lost its utility and now all relevant provisions were already covered in the said Ordinance. Therefore there was no need of retention of the said Ordinance.

He said the ministry was off the view that the said ordinance did not apply initially to the Federal Capital as it expressly mentioned in the Gazette copy, which was further amended in 1964, whereby the expression Federal capital was omitted in order to its application to the Federal Capital.

According to statement of Objects and Reason, Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan in its report while discussing ‘Repeal of Obsolete and Redundant Legislations’ Proposed to repeal the West Pakistan Prohibition of Smoking in Cinema Houses Ordinance, 1960 (Ordinance No IV of 1960) in view of prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non Smoker’s Health Ordinance, 2002