March 26, 2007	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 6, 1428

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PESHAWAR, March 25: The Federal Shariat Court has fixed March 28 for the preliminary hearing of a petition challenging the Qisas and Diyat law which has been lying in the court for the nearly a decade.

A full bench of the court comprising Chief Justice Haziqul Khairi, Justice Dr Fida Mohammad Khan and Justice Salahuddin Mirza will take up the petition.

The petition filed by senior advocate Abdullah Sani was last taken up for hearing in 2003. Since the filing of the petition in 1997 no noteworthy progress took place.

The petitioner had contended that ‘qatl-i-amd’ (intentional murder) could not be compounded and the provisions dealing with compromising and compounding intentional murder were against Islamic injunctions.

During the last hearing, the court had adjourned the hearing directing the petitioner to further prepare the case as it was of important nature.

The Qisas and Diyat Ordinance was first introduced in 1990 and through it about 40 provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code, dealing with murder and physical injuries, section 299 to section 388, were amended.

The ordinance was re-promulgated by successive governments numerous times as the constitutional life of an ordinance is four months. Finally, the Nawaz Sharif government gave permanent status to the law when the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1997 (Act No 3 of 1997) was passed by parliament on April 10, 1997.

The petitioner had challenged the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1997 stating that it was un-Islamic and should be declared in contravention to the Islamic injunctions. He stated that nowhere in the Holy Quran it is mentioned that intentional murder could be compounded or compromise could be made on it. He stated that only ‘qatl-i-khata’ (unintentional murder) could be compounded.

The petitioner also challenged the fixation of Diyat (the compensation payable to the heirs of a victim) by the government, stating that it was against the injunctions of Quran. He claimed that in the Holy Quran nowhere the worth of a human life is given. He stated that when the Holy Quran has not ordained anything about the Diyat amount the government had no authority to specify it.

The petitioner has also challenged the Political Parties Act, 1962, after the establishment of the Shariat Court in 1980. The petition continued lingering on without any progress and in 2002, the law was replaced with the Political Parties Order, 2002.

The petition was still pending before the court.

The petitioner had stated that the Political Parties Order was contrary to the teachings of Islam as there was no concept of formation of political parties in the Holy Quran.

As the Shariat Court often remained short of judges, Shariat petitions and appeals which could only be heard by a full bench remained pending for many years.

Four of the judges of the court got retired in June last year. The seats remained vacant for more than six months and in early January two judges were appointed by President Gen Pervez Musharraf. Still, the court has four judges, including the chief justice, whereas under the Constitution eight judges could be appointed there.