ISLAMABAD, Jan 23: Hudood laws are full of lacunae and have been badly drafted, the chairperson of National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW), Justice Majida Rizvi (retired), said.

Personal opinions of the committee members on Hudood laws have been included in the report launched on Thursday. Justice Majida Rizvi (retired) said in her opinion these laws did not reflect the correct principles of Islamic criminal law and were not in accordance with Islamic injunctions. These have caused great misery to women and ought to be repealed and the original laws be restored.

Justice M. Shaiq Usmani (retired) said due to numerous defects and lacunae in Hudood ordinances a number of anomalies had been created which led to injustice, particularly to women.

The defects in the ordinances are so basic that amending these will serve no useful purpose and may bring about more injustice. Thus, he was of the view that Hudood ordinances ought to be repealed.

Hina Jilani, another committee member, said the committee's terms of reference were either to recommend repeal of the Hudood ordinances or to amend them. The committee should not go beyond the terms of reference. Moreover, the committee cannot recommend effect preservation of the present law or to introduce fresh law as it will also be beyond its terms of reference.

Dr M. Farooq Khan said the manner in which Hudood ordinances had been promulgated had no basis in Quran and Sunnat. He was in agreement with others to the effect that there were a number of loopholes and lacunae in the ordinances and therefore was of the opinion that any amendment would serve no purpose at all and thus the ordinances ought to be repealed.

Nahida Mehboob Elahi said she saw no purpose in giving these Hudood ordinances the cover of PPC because that was not part of the terms and reference of the committee. She said Hudood ordinances should be repealed and the original law be reinstated.

Dr Farida Ahmed said she did not agree with the statement that these ordinances had no basis in Quran and Sunnat. According to her, these ordinances are based on the Quran and Sunnat. However, she felt that there might be some loopholes in these ordinances which could be corrected through amendments rather than repealing.

Syed Afzal Haider said there was no doubt that after the enforcement of Hudood ordinances, incidents of gang-rape had increased. He felt that there were many defects in Hudood ordinances and was of the view that these ought to be repealed.

Dr Faqir Hussain said recommending the mere repeal of the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) ordinance without an alternative reformative framework was not appropriate, as it would cause void/gap in legislation which was undesirable. As such, the special committee may assist the government/parliament by stating in the report the grounds/reasons for its repeal and the principles of alternative legislation.

Shahla Zia gave her opinion in writing and was of the view that Hudood ordinances ought to be repealed. Charmaine Hidayatullah also gave her opinion in writing and was of the view that Hudood ordinances had brought about great injustice to the society, and thus the recommendations of the special committee may be given effect to as soon as possible.

Chaudhry Naeem Shakir was the representative of non-Muslim Pakistani. He was of the opinion that Hudood laws, being Shariat laws, should only be enforced against Muslims.

Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid (retired) gave his opinion in writing and was of the view that Hudood ordinances, in particular Zina ordinance, had been used as an instrument of injustice mostly against women and helpless people in the country. Consequently, he was of the view that these ordinances ought to be repealed.

Dr S.M. Zaman said while there were a number of flaws in the Hudood ordinances, there was no justification for repealing the laws. He said these ordinances ought to be maintained although they could be reviewed and amended with a view to removing possible injustice and discrimination.

Rahila Durrani was of the opinion that Zina ordinance in particular had inherent flaws and was discriminatory towards women. Justice Taqi Usmani (retired), Allama Aqeel Turabi and Noor Mohammad Shahtaj did not provide comments in writing, or their opinion with regard to Hudood ordinances even though Allama Aqeel Turabi and Noor Mohammad Shahtaj had participated in most of the meetings. Justice Taqi Usmani (retired) was nominated, but declined to participate.