Senate body okays bill on dual nationality

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Committee on Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs on Thursday gave approval to the constitutional amendment bill envisaging ban on the government employees, including army official, civil bureaucrats and judges, for keeping dual nationality.
The meeting of the Senate committee held its meeting with the chair of its chief Kazim Khan on Thursday.The bill for the constitutional amendment was submitted by senators Raza Rabbani and Syeda Sughra Imam, through which the mover had sought the implementation of law of dual nationality not to be restricted only to parliamentarians, but it should be extended to army officials, government employees and judges.
According to the bill, after the passage of the constitutional amendment from both the Houses any person in the service of Pakistan shall not hold dual nationality or citizenship of any foreign country and that a person in the service of Pakistan holding dual nationality or citizenship of a foreign country shall renounce the same within 60 days of the coming into force of the Constitution (Twenty-second Amendment) Act, 2013.
The Senate Committee on Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs also approved the Anti-Rape Laws (Criminal Laws Amendment) bill moved by PPP senator Sughra Imam that aims to address lacunas in the existing laws in order to improve conviction rates, and bring the culprits within the ambit of the law.
According to bill, the police officer who committed a crime of rape of under custody women will have to get a capital punishment and life sentence and the courts of laws were bound to decide the case within a period of six-months of time.
The bill stated that any official will conduct the defective investigation in rape case would also be liable to three years imprisonment or fine.The bill aims that the registered medical practitioner will conduct a medical examination of the rape victim and person who committed the crime and also DNA profiling.According to the bill, the courts of law will decide the case within six months of time while the decision on the appeal against the court decision will also be decided in six months of time.