PESHAWAR, Jan 26: The courts in the province have not dealt with even a single case under the NWFP Shariat Act 2003, enacted last year by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government, as the law is not practicable, observed speakers at a seminar on Monday.

The provincial parliamentary leader of the People's Party Parliamentarians, Abdul Akber Khan, and former president of the Peshawar Bar Council, Sher Afgan Khattak, said under the Shariat Act the courts in the province had to interpret laws in accordance with Islamic Shariat, but despite the passage of more than seven months the provisions of the act had not been followed by any of the courts.

"Even the members of the MMA or the provincial government have not asked any of the court to decide their cases in accordance with the said act as they also know that the law was faulty and could not be implemented," said Mr Khattak.

The seminar on "NWFP after the enactment of Shariat Act" was organised by the Peshawar Press Club. The NWFP Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Human Rights, Malik Zafar Azam, said in the light of the Shariat Act the government had prepared drafts of various laws aimed at safeguarding different rights of women.

He said: "We have finalised debates on laws aimed at safeguarding the right of inheritance of women, prohibiting the inhuman custom of Swara and honour killing." He added that Talaq Mughaliza (pronouncement of three Talaqs in one go) would also be declared a penal offence.

The former president of Sarhad Chambers of Commerce and Industries (SCCI), Sarwar Khan Mohmand, said trade, industry and economy had no religion. He wondered how could trade between Pakistan and countries like India, Russia, China and European countries be Islamized.

Mr Mohmand said instead of creating new controversies the provincial government should pay heed to generating employment opportunities through industrialisation. "Our survival depends on encouraging small and medium enterprises and proper utilization of raw material available here," he added.

The Pakistan-Afghan borders at Ghulam Khan (North Waziristan) and Tari Mengal (Kurram Agency) should be opened for trade purposes between the two countries, he further said. He asked the provincial minister to pay heed to the activities of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (Smeda) as it had not been doing anything in the NWFP.

The Chairman of the NWFP Nifaz-i-Shariah Council, Mufti Ghulamur Rehman, said the introduction of Islamic banking in the Bank of Khyber was an outcome of the Shariat Act. He added they would also frame other laws in accordance with the Shariat Act, including the proposed Hisba Act.

Abdul Akber Khan said all the courts in the province were bound to follow the existing laws like the Pakistan Penal Code, Civil Procedure Code and Criminal Procedure Code. He further said the slogan of Shariat was a political manifesto of the MMA due to which it passed the act in haste so as to appease its voters.

Mr Khan said none of the three commissions mentioned in the law - commissions on education, economy and laws in the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas - were constituted within the stipulated period of one month. He questioned why the MMA leadership had not included the enforcement of Shariat in the package while negotiating with President Pervez Musharraf.

Mr Khattak said there were more than 100 judges of different categories in the province. If all of them were empowered to interpret laws in accordance with Shariat, he remarked, it would create complete confusion in society as they might not be well versed in Islamic Shariat.

Under the Constitution, he added, only the Federal Shariat Court was empowered to decide cases in accordance with Shariat and even the high courts were not given those powers. He asked when a power could not be exercised by the high court how could the courts subordinate to it exercise it.