ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice Wednesday recommended various amendments to “The Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Bill, 2021.”
The parliamentary panel met with Syed Ali Zafar in the chair, here on Wednesday. Members, who attended were senators, Shibli Faraz, Muhammad Azam Khan Swati, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Mian Raza Rabbani, Farooq Hamid Naek, Kamran Murtaza, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, Walid Iqbal, and senior officers from the Ministry of Law and Justice along with all concerned.
The Minister for Law and Justice, Senator Farogh Naseem, and the Parliamentary Secretary for Law and Justice, Malika Bukhari, were also present.
Deliberation entailed over the bill titled, The Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Bill, 2021 moved by Senator Dr Muhammad Farogh Naseem, Minister for Law and Justice in the Senate sitting held on 15th June 2021.
After detailed review of the various clauses, the Committee recommended various amendments to the bill.
Taking up the issue of inclusion of trans-genders into the bill, the ministry suggested doing so would create complications, especially due to capacity issues in the healthcare sector.
Child trans-genders; however, would fall under the ambit of children in this law.
The Committee recommended that retired judges must not be considered for this specialised court.
The ministry clarified that the reason for inclusion of retired judges was to facilitate women, since there were many women retired judges who could bring value to this mission.
The age bracket was reduced to 65 years.
Voting on the decision to establish Special Courts was conducted, which was in the affirmative.
The ministry, while providing its stance on the matter was of the view that the creation of Special Courts was crucial to ensure that women are given a fair hearing and a congenial environment to generate evidence.
Raising concerns regarding false accusations, the Committee was of the view that safety must be given to the accused to ensure no injustice is done.
The Committee stressed the need to include a clause that would allow for questioning to establish the presence or absence of consent.
It was consented that the bill will be passed after reviewing the amended clauses in the next meeting.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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