LAHORE, June 23: Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s announcement to abolish death sentence was criticised in the Punjab Assembly on Monday.

Opposition’s Sheikh Allauddin said on a point of order that the move to abolish death sentence was against the injunctions of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him).

He said the government had no right to convert death sentence into life imprisonment. “Only the heirs of the victim can pardon the offender and the state has nothing to do in this connection. The announcement has been made just to please the non-government organisations. This is against the divine law. Who will ensure justice to the heirs of victims?” he added.

The decision, if implemented, would encourage criminals and the crime rate would further increase.

“There are 7,000 or so convicts on the death row and their release would affect at least 70,000 families. We should not pardon criminals on the instruction of ‘outsiders’ whose own societies were deteriorating. I condemn it in strongest words whether or not any other member of the house joins me,” Sheikh added.

Raising another point of order, Maulana Ilyas Chinioti maintained that even in old and new testaments, the punishment for a murder by intention has been death. No law could be made in Pakistan that would be in violation of the injunctions of the divine laws.

PPP’s Azma Zahid Bukhari, however, disagreed with the two legislators and said that death sentences were being given to people under the penal code and not under the Hudood laws. Requesting the two legislators not to mix up things, she said that no change was being made in the Islamic laws.

The federal government would give remission to prisoners, convicted under the penal code.

Deputy Speaker Rana Mashood did not allow further debate on the issue, urging the members to focus on budget and not to waste time on items that were not on the agenda.

MOTION: The deputy speaker also ruled that any document, signed in the public interest to facilitate the masses, should not be kept secret.

Referring the privilege motion moved by Abdur Rahman Rana to the house committee, the deputy speaker, however, kept other similar motions pending.

The mover had drawn the attention of the house to non-provision of a copy of the agreement signed between a private company and the communication and works department for the collection of toll tax from the users of Lahore-Faisalabad Road and said that the authorities concerned were not providing details about it on the pretext that it was a “confidential” document.

Food Minister Malik Nadeem Kamran informed the house that the company constructed the dual carriageway and established a centre there to collect toll tax under the agreement. A clause in the agreement stated that its whole contents would not be made public. The company had also been allowed to increase toll taxes by 5.74 per cent annually.

The minister’s reply made many legislators stand up and demand that the matter be referred to the privilege committee. The food minister proposed that a house sub-committee be formed for the purpose but the deputy speaker referred the motion to privilege committee while asking that why a public matter was being kept secret.

Mashood, however, kept the privilege motions of Hafiz Hayat Kathia and Chaudhry Zaheeruddin pending, as they were not present in the house.