ISLAMABAD: The Federal Shariat Court (FSC) sought answers on Tuesday from the Punjab government to a set of challenges against the Punjab Protection of Women against Violence Act (PPWVA) 2016, which contains remedies for victims of violence.

A three-judge FSC bench consisting of Chief Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan, Justice Zahoor Ahmed and Justice Allama Fida had taken up the petitions moved by Dr Mohammad Aslam Khaki, a professor of Islamic law and a Supreme Court lawyer, as well as Prof Ibrahim of the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI).

Talking to Dawn, Dr Khaki said that the FSC, while issuing notices to the Punjab government, had asked it to furnish a comprehensive reply to the petitions.

Dr Khaki had requested the court to declare the law, especially Section 7(d,e) of the act, as repugnant to Islam, the Quran and Sunnah.

The section deals with wearing of GPS tracker on ankles or wrists to trace the movement of husbands round the clock.

On Feb 24, the Punjab Assembly passed the law that envisaged rehabilitation and justice to women if they fell victim to domestic, emotional and psychological violence, verbal abuse, stalking and cybercrime.

Dr Khaki said in his petition, punctuated with different verses of the Holy Quran, that the section was against the Islamic provisions because it was unilateral and gender biased and, therefore, against justice.

“The section is based on an NGO slogan that male is always guilty,” the petition said, adding that the law did not contain any mechanism for filing a complaint against a wife for causing mental and psychological violence to her husband.

It had been observed in a number of cases, the petition said, that the wife usually abused the husband and his family in a conflict and the heated debate between spouses sometimes resulted in violence by husbands.

“This section is also against the dignity of man and hence against Islam and the Constitution,” the petition said.

The Article 14 of the Constitution also ensured dignity of man which was inviolable, the petition said, adding that the provision was also against the fundamental rights of privacy as envisaged by Islam.

It said that in order to resolve any dispute or to combat domestic violence, the approach should be through counselling and guidance of both wife and husband instead of punishing the male and not female.

Dr Khaki was of the view that the law would create a gap and confrontation among families rather than creating deterrence, especially when Islam and the Constitution asked for integration of the family, which should be bound through love and affection.

“Islam ordains the rights of the spouses proportionate to their duties and Allah Almighty has put them in balance,” the petition stated, citing several verses from the holy Quran.

In case of conflict between spouses, it argued, an arbitration procedure had also been provided in the holy book which should be applied and strengthened instead of taking the conflict directly to law, creating further intra-family and inter-family conflicts and clashes.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2016