NA passes bill to take higher courts to Fata
 

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly unanimously passed a bill on Friday extending the jurisdiction of Supreme Court and Peshawar High Court (PHC) to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
Law Minister Chaudhry Mehmood Bashir Virk moved ?The Supreme Court and High Court (Extension of Jurisdiction to the Fata) Bill 2017?.
Except Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), the government and opposition parties supported the legislation.
The bill was taken as supplementary agenda of the day, as it was not included in order of the day. Before moving a list of amendments rejected by the House, JUI-F MNA Naeema Kishwar made a failed attempt to disrupt proceedings by pointing out a lack of quorum though the required strength was present in the House.
She also staged a two-minute token walkout against the legislation.
Kishwar called for substituting words ?Peshawar High Court? with the ?Islamabad High Court?.
She protested that the bill was not mentioned in the order of the day, as it was included through supplementary agenda.
The government assured the House of bringing other reforms too including the merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) as per recommendations of the Fata Reforms Committee.
The bill for merger of Fata with the KP still hangs in the balance due to opposition from the JUI-F and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP.
Speaking in the House, Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions Abdul Qadir Baloch said the bill for Fata-KP merger would be introduced at an appropriate time.
Baloch said credit went to the government for abolition of Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) and extensions of superior courts? jurisdiction to the tribal areas.
?Today all the political parties are united on mainstreaming of tribal areas. The tribal areas will also be merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at an appropriate time as per the recommendations of Fata Reforms Committee,? he said.
Opposition Leader Syed Khursheed Shah termed it a step towards mainstreaming of tribal areas.
?Another step towards merger of Fata with the KP should also be made,? he said.
Shah said the people of tribal areas had given numerous sacrifices and they should be rewarded by merging Fata with the KP province.
Shah G. Gul Afridi from Fata said the step towards Fata reforms would bring a positive change.
Ali Muhammad Khan of PTI said the step towards Fata reforms had won the hearts of the area people.
Jamaat-e-Islami?s Sahibzda Tariqullah also lauded the government for passing the bill.
?It should have been passed much earlier,? he said.
The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) asked the government to pass the bill by Jan 31 or else it would stage a sit-in in front of Parliament House.
The federal cabinet had approved the legislation in September last paving way for extension of Supreme Court and Islamabad High Court?s jurisdictions to Fata.
However, the bill?s passage was delayed on the demand of Fata parliamentarians who felt that instead of IHC, the Peshawar High Court?s jurisdictions should be extended to their area.
Meanwhile, the Upper House of Parliament strongly condemned the murder of seven-year-old Zainab in Kasur.
The House suspended the regular business and strongly condemned the kidnapping, rape and murder of Zainab.
Parliamentarians from government and opposition demanded award of an exemplary punishment to the culprit.
Initiating debate, Opposition Leader Syed Khursheed Shah lambasted the Punjab government and held it responsible for the tragic incident.
He said the Punjab government had failed to protect the lives and honour of people.
?Law is there for this purpose, but it is not being implemented,? he said.
Khursheed criticised the Punjab police performance and said the force was only seen in advertisements.
Speaker Ayaz Sadiq said it was decided in the meeting of Business Advisory Committee to suspend the regular agenda for discussion on the Kasur incident.
Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Riaz Pirzada moved a motion under Rule 259 to discuss the incident.
Members from the opposition parties also came down hard on the Punjab police for opening direct fire on the protesters causing two deaths.
PTI MNA Shireen Mazari said punishment should be given to those involved in the crime and fair investigation should be made against those policemen who had opened fire on the protestors in Kasur.
She also termed the statement of a government member shameful that it was responsibility of the parents to take care of their children.
Mohsin Shah Nawaz Ranjha of PML-N said there was need to review government performance, as such social evils were not limited to just one province.
He said there should be no political point-scoring on the issue and reasons behind such failure should be reviewed whether it was prosecution, investigation or case proceedings in the lower courts.
Naeema Kishwar Khan of JUI-F said Kasur incident was intolerable and those involved in violence against women in Abbottabad and Dera Ismail Khan should be executed.Sahibzada Tariqullah also condemned the Kasur incident and said it was an unfortunate incident. He said the government had failed to arrest the culprit.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/com/cwEr/~4/tT5oTIZ1c58

أكثر...