KP PA passes bill to prohibit lavish expenditures on marriages

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Wednesday passed KP Marriage Functions (Prohibition of Ostentatious Displays and Wasteful Expenses) Bill, 2018 to prohibit lavish expenditures on marriages and relieve the poor segment from the undue burden.

The bill was moved by Rashida Riffat of Jamat-e-Islami.

The objectives and reasons of the bill have been framed to prohibit extravagances ostentatious displays on the marriage function.

It is an important step to prepare the society as a whole for a change in its behaviour towards this issue to curb the tendency of wasteful expenses and relieve the poor segments of the society of the undue burden of the exorbitant expenditures incurred on these occasions.

According to the bill the aggregate value of the gift amount or articles given to bride by her parents or any other family member will not exceed the amount of Rs one hundred thousand.

During the marriage ceremony only one dish either rice, gravy (salan), dry dish, roti salad and sweet will be served to the guests.

In case of usage of loud speaker in rukhsati (barat, valima or nikkah) the sound would be restricted to the indoor premises as possible of the house or public place.

A person or family celebrating an engagement, mehndi or nikkhah would not be allowed to serve anything except beverages to the people.

The mehndi, nikkhah or any other function in this regard would not be continued after 11:00 pm.

The violator will be liable to a penalty of not less than Rs 0.2 million or imprisonment for a term, which may not exceed three months or both.

The violation of the law will be bail able offence triable by a magistrate of 1st class summarily in written within one month from the date of Nikkah and if Rukhsati took place from the date of such Rukhsati.

Meanwhile, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2018 and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Censorship of Motion Pictures (Films, CDs, Vedeos, Stage Dramas and Shows) Bill 2018 were tabled in the House.

The bills were moved by Minister for Local Government Inayat Ullah Khan and Arif Khan respectively.