Senate defers PPC (Amend) Bill

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Committee on Interior Friday deferred deliberations on a bill seeking amendment to the Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (omission of 124-A). The bill – moved by Senator Mian Raza Rabbani – aims to delete the British era Section 124-A of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860. The committee decided to defer deliberations until the next meeting and call in the federal secretary law and all provincial home secretaries for further deliberation.

The committee met at the Parliament House with Senator Abdul Rehman Malik in the chair.

Senators Faisal Javed Khan, Javed Abbasi, Mian Ateeq Shaikh, Mian Raza Rabbani, Kulsoom Parveen, Sardar Shafiq Tareen, chairman CDA and other officials from the Ministry of Interior, Islamabad Police and Punjab Police attended the meeting.

Rabbani briefed the committee about the scope of amendment, which will omit Section 124-Aand told the committee that this section was a part of the inherited colonial structure of governance that continued in Pakistan.

He said this section was for the natives who had to be kept under control lest they incited rebellion against their masters. “This law served a brutal occupying force and is being applied even today with increasing regularity to crush political dissent and make the citizens submit to unquestionable obedience,” he told the committee.

He said today relationship between the rulers and rules was no longer one of master and subject.

“Respect for the government cannot be regulated. It arises from the state’s respect for individual freedom and the ability to govern,” he stated.

He said with the amendment to the bill, the game should end that the state is under threat.

Senator Malik said since the bill was of highest importance, it needed a thorough deliberation and decided to call in the federal secretary law and all the provincial home secretaries in the next meeting to further deliberate on the bill.

The committee also discussed the Provincial Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill, 2020 introduced by Senator Faisal Javed Khan.

The bill called for inserting a new section 112AA into the Ordinance XIX of 1965 regarding offences and penalties related to emergency vehicles.

The committee approved sections 1,2,3 of amendments calling for a clear and uninterrupted passage for ambulances and fire brigades, fining those failing to comply with and punishing those who use warning devices without authorization, while sections 4,5,6 were withdrawn by the mover.

Appreciating the bill introduced by Senator Faisal Javed, Malik said introduction of such laws was the need of the hour. He expressed fears that coronavirus cases might increase manifold in the upcoming days and therefore the government should make strict and implementable SOPs for Eidul Azha so that the spread of the pandemic was controlled.

The committee also deliberated on the relief packages for businesses, especially hotels and restaurants, raised by Senator Muhammad Javed Abbasi.

Malik said coronavirus had affected people from all sections of society adding that the government must announce a general relief package covering all.

He urged the government to announce relief packages for traders, businessmen, and laymen that all could be compensated equally.

He said in the first phase small businessmen, especially those running shops in markets and big malls, should be accommodated for their loss during the lockdown period.

After hearing the mover and relevant departments, the committee decided to give its recommendations in the House with a draft bill that it was the government’s responsibility to help the small businesses in payment of rents and bills.

The committee also sought a detailed briefing on the organisational structure of the Capital Hospital [of CDA] and the details of equipment available.

Chairman CDA told the meeting that after COVID-19, the hospital was equipped with 83 oxygenated beds and more arrangements would be made in the next six months to improve facilities and infrastructure.

Malik directed the CDA to cancel its earlier advertisement for jobs and give a new advertisement as per directions of the Ministry of Interior.

He said the members’ quarries should be addressed properly in the next committee meeting.

Regarding lack of proper response by the Rawalpindi police in a car theft case, the chairman committee asked the Punjab police to look into the matter and inform the committee about reasons.

He directed that the police must learn about how to treat the public and those who come to them for help. He directed that the SHO concerned and other officials of Rawalpindi police should be investigated for the misbehavior.

The committee unanimously adopted resolutions strongly condemning the illegal and immoral steps by the Indian government of changing the demography of Indian Occupied Kashmir by allowing citizenship to the Indian nationals on very easy terms.

The committee called upon the government to take more rigorous actions to counter the propaganda and illegal moves of the Indian government.

At the onset of the meeting, Senator Rehman Malik said, “Today is the 347th day of curfew in Indian Occupied Kashmir and since day first this committee had been marking these days as ‘Dark Days’ in the history of mankind and expressing solidarity with Kashmiri brothers and sisters.

He urged the international community to intervene and stop the ongoing massacre of Muslims in India and Indian Occupied Kashmir.

The committee unanimously approved a resolution saying, “The Senate Standing Committee on Interior condemns the illegal and immoral steps being taking by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making demographic changes with the view to reducing the Kashmiri population by allowing domiciles on very easy terms to show more Hindu population against the Muslims in the next census.

The committee called upon the government to take up this matter with the United Nations.

The committee also called upon Modi to refrain from doing this illegal act in violation of the United Nations resolutions wherein the right of self-determination had already been given to Kashmiri Muslims.