PESHAWAR, Nov 13: Provincial Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani defended the Hisba bill approved by the NWFP Assembly on Monday and said the MMA had no ‘ill intentions whatsoever’ against its opponents, adding that it was purely meant to ensure people’s access to quick and inexpensive justice.

He stressed that people with unsurpassed integrity and ‘unblemished and clean character’ and ‘acceptable to all’ would be inducted in the Hisba institution.” He was addressing legislators in the NWFP Assembly.

He assured that the spirit behind the bill’s adoption was to enforce the Shariah and denied the opposition’s claims that it was part of an attempt to gain political mileage.

He reiterated that a ‘man of spotless character’ would be named for the prestigious office of provincial anti-vice ombudsman. He said that the people would see for themselves and attest to the integrity of the person who would be appointed to the post of the provincial Mohtasib.

Moreover, he made it clear that every individual would have the right to legally challenge the verdict of the Mohtasib, debunking the opposition’s assertions that the Mohtasib’s decision could not be challenged in any court of law under the Hisba bill. “We have great respect for the law,” he said.

The chief minister said the provincial government would pass laws which were in the interest of the province and its people. The MMA government, he said, was running the affairs of the provincial government just like a jirga.

He claimed that the Hisba bill enjoyed the support of the PPP (Sherpao), Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf, PML(Nawaz), and independent members of the provincial assembly while Saeed Khan, a member of the ruling PML, had also supported the bill by admitting to the fact that it was in accordance with the devolution plan of the President Pervez Musharraf.

He also pointed out that Nighat Yasmeen Orakzai, another ruling PML MPA, had remained seated in the house till the end and had supported the amendments moved by the PPP(Sherpao) legislator Israruullah Khan Gandapur, he contended.

Law Minister Malik Zafar Azam said that the provincial government wanted had wanted to pass the bill with consensus and claimed that it had been drafted with the consensus of opposition parties.

The MMA, he said, had no political motives behind its passing, adding that it was meant only to ensure quick and inexpensive justice to the poor. He said that the MMA had followed the rules of business before adopting the legislation. He said that it was seventh bill for which the Supreme Court’s consent had been sought.

The NWFP governor had contested the hisba bill case in the Supreme Court for a month. He made it clear that all the observations and reservations of the Supreme Court had been removed in the revised bill.

Later, talking to reporters outside the assembly building, the chief minister termed it a representative bill of the house and said that it was the only bill which had been passed after taking every segment of the society into confidence. He said that seminars on the Hisba bill had been organised by the NWFP government in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar.—APP