DESPITE the passage of over four years, the law commonly known as Women Protection Act (WPA) is yet to be extended to the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata) due to which the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance, 1979, is applicable in these areas in its original form.

While in rest of the country, a complainant alleging fornication or adultery against any person has to lodge a complaint before the competent court and the said court has to decide whether to proceed further with the case or not, the same protection is not available to the inhabitants, especially women, in Pata.

The Peshawar High Court on Thursday last granted bail to a couple belonging to Malakand Division charged by a cousin of the female under the Zina Ordinance. As the WPA has not been extended to Pata of which Malakand Division is a part, therefore, the FIR of the case was directly registered at Daggar police station in Buner district under section 10, 11 and 16 of Zina Ordinance.

The complainant, Israrul Haq, alleged that he was married to his cousin, Mehrun Nisa, and she was enticed away by another person, Usman Said. He alleged that the female entered into wedlock with Usman without getting divorce from him which amounted to adultery under the Zina Ordinance.

The FIR was registered on Feb 23, 2011, following which the couple was arrested. They were denied bail by a subordinate court in Buner after which they moved the Peshawar High Court.

Advocate Ijaz Khan Sabi appeared for the couple before a single bench comprising Justice Shahjehan Khan Yousafzai and contended that the woman was never married to the complainant and she had married the male-accused with her free will contrary to the wishes of her family. He added that due to same reason her entire family was against the couple and they registered a concocted case against them to victimise them.

“As the Women Protection Act has not been extended to the Malakand Division, which is part of Pata, therefore, the police are at liberty to register cases under the Zina Ordinance in its pre-amended shape,” Advocate Ijaz Khan told Dawn . He added that it was up to the provincial governor to extend the law to Pata with the approval of the president at the earliest so as to stop misuse of Zina Ordinance.

Article 247 of the Constitution extends different status to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Pata. The latter comprises of seven districts — Swat, Shangla, Chitral, Buner, Malakand, Upper and Lower Dir — and tribal areas of Mansehra and Kohistan. The said article provides that no act of Parliament or a provincial assembly shall apply to Pata unless the governor, with prior approval of the president, so directs.

The much trumpeted Protection of Women (Criminal Laws Amendment) Act, 2006, commonly known as the Women Protection Act was given assent by the president on Nov 30, 2006, after it was passed by the National Assembly and Senate. The law was aimed at ending the misuse of the Zina Ordinance.

Through that law, drastic changes were made in the controversial Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance, 1979, and adultery and fornication were turned into non-cognizable offences. Now under the law a complaint has to be filed before the concerned court which has to decide to initiate proceedings in the case if sufficient evidence is available.

Apart from the Zina Ordinance, amendments were also made in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Offence of Qazf (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance, 1979.

Legal experts say that from time to time the people belonging to Pata continue to face this discriminatory attitude. In past, another important law introduced for checking honour killings and inhuman custom of handing over females to rival families for settling disputes was extended to Pata after a delay of five years.