NA passes bill to enhance punishment for disrespect of sacred personalities

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Tuesday passed a legislation for enhancement in punishment for those defaming Ummahatul Momineen, Ahle Bait, Khulfa-e-Rashideen and Sahaba-e-Karam upto life imprisonment.

In this connection, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) parliamentarian Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali moved the Criminal Laws Amendment Bill, 2023 as a private member, which was unanimously passed by the lower House of the Parliament.

The bill, which provides for amendment in certain sections of Pakistan Penal Code, would now be sent to the Senate for its nod before it is okayed by President Arif Alvi to make it an Act of the Parliament. According to amendments in the law, the punishment for a person proven guilty of disrespecting Ummahatul Momineen, Ahle Bait, Khulfa-e-Rashideen and Sahaba-e-Karam and using derogatory remarks for them would be 10 years in prison, which may extend to life imprisonment depending on seriousness of the crime.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior, while giving its nod to the bill, in its report had stated that if the Parliament wanted to end extremism and terrorism, then it should change punishment of culprits who use derogatory remarks for Ummahatul Momineen, Ahle Bait, Khulfa-e-Rashideen and Sahaba-e-Karam.

JI member Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali said the passage of an important bill was matter of honour for him adding that previously the punishment for disrespecting these sacred personalities was almost nil. On the other hand, he said that disrespecting a parliamentarian was liable for punishment, which is currently five years imprisonment.

Deputy Speaker Zahid Akram Durrani, chairing the proceedings, termed passage of the bill as historic and congratulated all the parliamentarians. He said that implementation of the law would help in preventing the heinous crime in the country.

The House also passed the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Amendment Bill 2021. There was thin presence of members in the House as the Election Commission of Pakistan suspended membership of over 100 MNAs for not filing asset declarations.

Deputy Speaker Zahid Akram Durrani, while expressing his anger over absence of ministers from the House, suspended proceedings for 15 minutes. He also stopped Qadar Khan Mandokhel from introduction of a bill when he found that the Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan was not present in the House

Meanwhile, the Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, Shazia Marri, said that several projects were in the pipeline for recovery and rehabilitation of flood-affected areas.

Speaking in response to the points of GDA leader Ghous Bux Khan Mahar in the National Assembly on Tuesday, she said the government has effectively highlighted the plight of flood victims and secured support of the international community. “We will have to build a climate resilient infrastructure to avert future disasters,” she said.

The minister said the Benazir Income Support Program played a pivotal role in disbursement of 70 billion rupees among the flood-affected people.

The minister said that ministers should attend proceedings of the House. However, she pointed out there was less presence of other members also as membership of 136 of them was suspended for not submitting asset declarations with the ECP. “They will come to the House as soon as they receive a green signal from the election commission,” she said.

The National Assembly transacted private members’ business. Six bills were laid before the house on Tuesday including Pakistan Citizenship Amendment Bill 2023, The Federal Urdu University of Arts, Sciences and Technology Amendment Bill 2023, The National Skills University Amendment Bill, The Institute of Space Technology Amendment Bill, The COMSATS University Amendment Bill and the Equal Scales of Salary and Allowances Bill.

PPP member Qadar Khan Mandokhel, through a calling attention notice, registered his protest over non-professional attitude of Pathology Department’s staff of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) with patients. He said that it was not the first time that such complaints against the PIMS was being received, saying the matter should be referred to concerned committee of the House.

Parliamentary Secretary on Health, Agha Rafiullah, said that the health minister had also taken notice of the situation in the hospital. In this connection, he said a letter was also written to the PIMS administration.

The chair adjourned the proceedings of the House till Friday morning.