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| July 6, 2005 | Wednesday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 28, 1426 |
Open debate in PA on Hasba bill promised
PESHAWAR, July 5: The provincial cabinet on Monday night approved the proposed Hasba Bill which envisages the creation of ombudsmen offices at provincial, district and tehsil levels. The cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani, decided to take the opposition parties into confidence before tabling the bill, so as to dispel the impression that the proposed law would establish a parallel judicial system.
The draft of the bill has already been approved by the supreme council of the ruling Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal. A legal committee earlier constituted to review the earlier draft had made certain changes in the bill.
The cabinet approved the draft without making any amendments in it. Mufti Ghulamur Rehman, the chairman of Nifaz-i-Shariah Council, a recommendatory body of the provincial government, also attended the meeting and explained the salient features of the bill to the participants. The meeting continued for more than four hours.
The chief minister said in his address that his government was keen to remove any reservations that people may have about the Hasba Bill before it was given a legal status. He held out assurances that the bill would be openly debated on the floor of the house.
He denied that the proposed Hasba institution would give rise to a parallel justice system and claimed it would in fact supplement the prevailing laws.
The provincial law minister, Malik Zafar Azam, told Dawn that the proposed bill had been diluted to a great extent and it had nothing controversial about it.
“We have addressed the controversial points in the law and by no means can it be termed as a parallel judicial system,” he said, adding that the bill would provide speedy and cheap justice to the people.
The proposed bill states that a person qualified to be a judge of the Federal Shariat Court should be appointed as provincial ombudsman (mohtasib) by the governor on the advice of the chief minister as decreed by Article 105 of the constitution.
Under the said article, the advice of the chief minister is binding on the governor.
Under the proposed law, the mohtasib (ombudsman) enjoys vast powers including conducting accountability of government officials as well as to purge the society of vices and to make the people live in accordance with Islamic teachings.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the Joint Action Committee, a representative body of civil society groups in the province, has also rejected this piece of legislation and has termed it unconstitutional and aimed at curtailing civil liberties.
Under the proposed bill, the mohtasib would monitor adherence of Islamic values and its respect and regard at the times of Iftar and Taravih. He would also take steps to discourage un-Islamic social values. The ombudsmen would also enjoy powers of dealing with contempt of the court and not obeying any order of the ombudsmen would be an offence to be tried by regular courts.
There also would be a Hasba police force at the disposal of the ombudsmen and personnel would be drawn from the provincial police force.
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