PESHAWAR, Dec 28: The Hudood ordinances can only be repealed after convincing legislators and religious parties that these are man-made laws and not divine, religious scholar Dr Mohammad Tufail Hashmi said at a panel discussion on Tuesday.

There should be no confusion that the ordinances were man-made laws and the religious scholars should research and deeply study those, he said at the discussion organized by the Legislative Watch Group of the Aurat Foundation. Dr Hashmi, who is legal advisor to the Federal Shariat Court, said it was a misconception that the Hudood ordinances were divine laws.

There was a clear difference between offences liable to 'Hadd' and 'Tazir' and those should not be confused with each other, he said. Hadd was the maximum limit of the prescribed punishments under the divine law and it was not necessary to award maximum punishment, Dr Hashmi maintained.

The ordinances were discriminatory and had some lacunas which resulted in women languishing in jails for Hudood-related offences, he said. The testimony of a rape victim and circumstantial evidence against the rapist should be enough to punish him, Dr Hashmi said.

He said former Federal Shariat Court judge Dr Taqi Usmani had observed that there were some lacunas in the Hudood ordinances. Supreme Court Bar Association President Qazi Jamil said the ordinances promulgated by an unelected man were misinterpreted as divine laws.

He said former president Gen Ziaul Haq, who promulgated the ordinances, used the name of Islam for his political aims while there was no need for new laws. He said the decisions under the ordinances were often anti-women.

He said Islam was projected as a religion of punishments due to the misconception that Hudood laws were Islamic laws. "We have forgotten about 'Ihsan' and 'first offence' and the judiciary seems obsessed with punishments," Qazi Jamil said.