29 July 2004	Thursday	11 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

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ISLAMABAD, July 28: Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has said the government will introduce four bills on important issues, including honour killing and terrorism, during the current session of the National Assembly.

Talking to reporters after presiding over a meeting of the Pakistan Muslim League and its allied parties in the Parliament House on Wednesday, the prime minister said the government wanted to amend the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, the defamation act and laws governing medico-legal affairs.

Chaudhry Shujaat said the bill on honour killing would only be approved after seeking guidance from the Council of Islamic Ideology. He said the government wanted to curb honour killings in the country and it had been proposed that even the word 'karo-Kari' would not be used in future. He said no one would be allowed to kill any person in the name of honour.

Highlighting salient features of other bills, the prime minister said the defamation laws would be amended under which those indulged in character assassination by levelling baseless allegations would be punished.

He, however, made it clear that the bill would not affect the freedom of press in any way. The prime minister said a sessions judge would be bound to announce his decision in a defamation case within 90 days of the filing of the case under the proposed law.

An appeal could be made in the higher courts against the decision of the sessions judge, he added. The purpose of introducing a medico-legal bill, he said, was to provide protection to doctors and remove hurdles in the way of necessary medical treatment to the injured in serious conditions without waiting for preliminary investigation.

Through the bill to amend the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, steps had been suggested to provide legal protection to churches and imambargahs in addition to mosques. Without elaborating, the prime minister said the word 'churches' and 'imambargahs' would be added to the word 'mosques' in the law.

Chaudhry Shujaat claimed that all the allied parties would support the PML in the introduction of these bills. The meeting decided that in future before presenting any bill in the house it would be discussed at length in the parliamentary party meeting.

Later, the prime minister called on Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain and discussed with him various aspects of proposed bills. Chief whip of the PML Sardar Nasrullah Dareshak and People's Party Patriots MNA Dr Sher Afgan Niazi were present during the meeting.