ISLAMABAD: As the Senate took up legislative business during budget session in an unusual move, a bill binding government servants from BPS-17 to BPS-22, to disclose domestic and foreign assets held by them as well as their family members, sailed through the House.

The Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2025, was moved in the House for immediate consideration and passage by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, minutes after Rana Mehmoodul Hasan, Chair­man of the Senate Standing Committee on cabinet secretariat, submitted reports on two bills, including the civil servants’ amendment bill.

The bill has already been passed by the National Assembly and it will become a law after an assent by the president.

Mr Tarar informed the House that Pakis­tan had given a commitment to some international organisations that the law will be enacted before June 30. He said some international organisations and INGOs including Transparency Interna­t­i­onal and Amnesty International had been pointing out that it was a requirement in various countries to disclose their assets, and not just provide the same to their de­­partments concerned, so that the things with regard to corruption index are clear.

Draft law proposing to abolish death penalty for publicly denuding a woman, harbouring hijackers lands in the house

He said the respective departments will place the statements of their assets on their websites. According to the statements of objects and reasons of the bill, the proposed legislation aims at strengthening the Government Servants (Conduct) Rules, 1964, — specifically Rules 12, 13, and 13-A — and align with the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017. Under the bill, civil servants in higher grades will be required to digitally file asset declarations, including domestic and foreign assets beneficially owned by themselves or their immediate family members, it says.

Two other important bills also landed in the House, one of which seeks to abolish death penalty for the offences of publicly denuding a woman and harbouring hijackers.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the bill was meant to abolish death penalty for crimes that were not so severe in the nature. The criminal laws amendment bill seeks to amend sections 354-A and 402-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). Section 354-A in its present form reads “Whoever assaults or uses criminal force to any woman and strips her of her clothes and, in that condition, expo­ses her to the public view, shall be punished with death or with imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine”.

Tarar said the amendment to prescribe death penalty for the offence had been made back in 1983 during the days of military ruler General Ziaul Haq. Section 402 of the PPC reads, “Whoever knowingly harbours any person whom he knows or has reason to believe to be a person who is about to commit or has committed or abetted an offence of hijacking, or knowingly permits any such persons to meet or assemble in any place or premises in his possession or under his control, shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine”.

The Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Amendment Bill 2025’, moved by PML-N Senator Khalil Tahir Sandhu, was referred to the standing committee on law after PTI objected to landing of the private member’s bill during the budget discussion.

The opposition said it smells a rat as the bill seeking to amend the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act, 1973, was brought to the House through a supplementary agenda after suspending the rules.

Leader of the Opposition in the House, Syed Shibli Faraz, opposed the move noting that it would be unfair to change the rules of the game without a prior notice as the campaign for bar elections due in November has already started.

“This is not the spirit of law-making,” he said, adding that the bill was not on the agenda and stressed that the way it has come to the House shows there was a mala fide intention behind it.

Mr Tarar explained that the bill sought to cap the rising expenditures on bar councils’ elections to make these transparent and allow only practising lawyers to contest these polls.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2025