ISLAMABAD: The Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights on Monday unanimously approved ‘‘The Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Bill, 2020’’.

The ambit of the bill, which was earlier limited to Islamabad, has been extended to the entire country. Moreover, special courts would be established to decide cases relating to missing children in three months.

Station house officers (SHOs) would be bound to register first information reports (FIRs) immediately after receiving the complaint, failing which they would face imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of up to Rs100,000 and lose their job.

The meeting, held at a committee room of the Parliament House, was declared in camera due to sensitivity of the issue.

Tabled by Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari it was an administrative bill for the rescue and recovery of missing children. It was named after nine-year-old Zainab Ansari, who was murdered after being raped in Kasur in 2018. The bill suggested that an authority would be established to deal with the cases of kidnapping and rape of children.

The National Assembly’s Standing Committees on Human Rights, while passing the bill, incorporated the death penalty and then it was sent to the Senate for consideration. Members of the Senate Functional Committee had suggested that the bill should have jurisdiction across the country.

PPP Senator Quratulain Marri had opposed the idea in every meeting of the committee, and suggested that the bill should be limited to the federal capital and the provinces should pass their own bills as otherwise it would be a violation of the 18th Amendment.

Chairman of the committee Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, while talking to Dawn, said as Ms Marri did not attend the meeting on Monday the bill was passed unanimously.

“After getting input from the Ministry of Human Rights, the Ministry of Law and independent legal experts, it was decided that the bill would have jurisdiction across the country. Moreover, the human rights ministry would receive applications for the post of director general of the Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Authority and the names of the applicants would be placed before the prime minister,” he said.

Mr Khokhar said that mostly FIRs regarding missing children were delayed and police remained unaware which sections should be included in FIRs.

He said 10-year-old girl Farishta was kidnapped and murdered in Islamabad in May last year, but police did not register an FIR for two days and misbehaved with her father.

“We have decided that the bill’s jurisdiction will be across Pakistan and special courts will be established to decide the cases in three months,” he said.

Mr Khokhar said the SHO concerned had been bound to register the FIR immediately without ascertaining if the child has run away.

He said the SHO would have to inform the Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Authority within two hours of registering the FIR, otherwise he would face imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of up to Rs100,000 and lose his job.

In reply to a question, Mr Khokhar said that although National Assembly’s standing committee had incorporated the death penalty in the bill, the capital punishment has been removed from it as the Senate Functional Committee has extended its ambit to the entire country and all sections of the Pakistan Penal Code have been included.

“Now the Senate will take up the bill in its next session. Once the upper house of parliament passed the bill it will be sent to the National Assembly for passage,” he said.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2020