ISLAMABAD - The Senate Standing Committee on Interior on Friday approved the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Prosecution) (Amendment) Bill, 2022 with a majority of vote.
The committee that met under the chair of Senator Mohsin Aziz considered the bill in detail. Senator Aziz himself is the mover of the bill.
The purpose of the bill is to monitor the movement of persons involved in sex crimes within the country so that such persons cannot go to another city in the country and commit such crimes again.
Minister of State for Law Senator Shahadat Awan opposed approval of the bill without consulting the provinces. However, the members approved the bill with a majority vote.
The committee also took a detailed look at the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022 (Addition of new Sections 52B, 512, 513 and 514 to Pakistan Penal Code and Amendments to Schedule II of Code of Criminal Procedure) seeking to criminalize the enforced disappearances.
The proposed bill was sent to the Senate after approval by the National Assembly. The purpose of this bill is to bring the perpetrators of the heinous crime of enforced disappearances to justice so as to provide some relief to the families whose loved ones have gone missing.
The Secretary Interior said that a meeting of the committee chaired by the law minister would be held soon on the proposed bill and consideration of the bill by the committee should be postponed.
Law Ministry officials were of the view that the amendments proposed in the bill were already there in the existing law and there was no need for new legislation in this regard. The chairman committee deferred the discussion on the bill for one month, according to the opinion of the committee members.
The Islamabad Capital Territory Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Bill, 2022 presented by Senator Fawzia Arshad was also considered in the meeting. The committee members unanimously approved the bill after due deliberations.
The Capital Development Authority (Amendment) Bill 2022 introduced by Senator Ms Arshad was also reviewed by the committee. The purpose of the bill is to determine the persons responsible and punish them for delay in completion of housing projects in different sectors of the federal capital