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PESHAWAR, Aug 6: NWFP Chief Minister Muhammad Akram Khan Durrani said he would consider placing before the Supreme Court a review petition challenging its ruling on the controversial Hasba bill.
“I have not yet seen the Supreme Court judgment. But I have instructed our lawyers to get a copy of the judgment. Unless I see and read it, I will not be in a position to give any comment,” the chief minister told delegates of the Pakistan Federation of Union of Journalists (Dastoor).
Mr Durrani said that he would discuss the court ruling ‘clause by clause’ with his law department and the lawyers’ panel that represented the NWFP before the apex court before making up his mind which step to take.
“We will see whether there is a need to revert to the Supreme Court to seek clarifications on certain points raised by it. We have the right to go to the court and seek clarifications.”
Mr Durrani said that although he had respect for the apex court he felt the need for reverting to the court and seeking certain explanations from it.
His remarks were in sharp contrast to his own law minister who had said earlier that the Supreme Court verdict was in conflict with the constitution.
The Supreme Court in its short judgment last week held certain provisions of the controversial bill to be in violation of fundamental rights and the constitution.
He dismissed accusations by the bill’s opponents that the proposed legislation had been pushed through in haste. He said that his government had mulled over it for two and a half years and had held seminars in Peshawar and other cities.
Mr Durrani said that the bill had been sent to the provincial governor who had kept it with him for more than seven months before it had been sent to the Islamic Ideology Council for scrutiny. The council held it for almost the same period, he said.
The chief minister said that he had also arranged a briefing for PML-Q leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed to allay the federal government’s apprehensions about the bill.
He said that since the provincial assembly was a representative body of elected people, it had a constitutional duty to legislate.
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: When asked why he had not been attending National Security Council meetings especially since the MMA had helped the government adopt the 17th Amendment, the chief minister said that he had been “caught between a rock and a hard place”.
Mr Durrani said that he could not think of betraying his party for it had put him in the top executive post of the province. “The constitution also requires one to abide by party discipline. At the same time, the NSC too is a constitutional body having been formed through an act of parliament,” he said.
“It is a difficult situation,” he said, adding that he had been trying to facilitate a meeting between the MMA leadership and the federal government to resolve through table talk their differences over the constitutional amendment. “I have always been trying to help resolve problems and issues through negotiations,” he said.
WOMEN IN LOCAL POLLS: The chief minister denied that women were being discouraged from taking part in the local body elections. He claimed that in his own home district women had filed nomination papers for the offices of nazim and naib nazim.
“If women from my own constituency are contesting the local body polls, how can my government bar them from participating in these elections?” he asked.
“But if some women do not wish to participate or vote, then I cannot force them out of their homes,” he maintained.
He also dismissed accusations that his government was interfering in the local body elections. “It is up to the people to decide whether or not to vote for MMA-backed candidates based on the performance of this government,” he added.
