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LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has observed that the Punjab Protection of Women against Violence Act (Women Act), 2016 is a dynamic and vital piece of legislation and directed the Punjab government to take every measure for its strict compliance and implementation in an earnest manner.

The court issued the directives in a habeas corpus petition of Shabnam Dil Muhammad who approached the court for recovery of her daughter Sidra from the illegal custody of her ex-husband.

The court observed it is unrealistic to suggest that violence against women only exists in a particular society. Rather, it is a menace that exists across the world in different forms and in all societies.

Therefore, it remains a matter of great concern for international law, the court said. Merely enacting the law shall have no benefit if it is not implemented.

An ineffective law fails to achieve the objective for which it is enacted and its failure shakes the confidence of the people in the laws, the court added.

The court noted that the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) was established in March 2014 as an oversight body to ensure that laws, policies and programmes of the government promote women’s empowerment and efforts are made for expansion of opportunities for socio-economic development of women, and that discrimination against women in all forms is eliminated.

However, the PCSW played no role at any platform for the speedy enforcement of the Women Act, the court observed.

The LHC said Section 1 (3) of the Women Act never bestowed upon the government an unbridled and uncontrolled discretion to withhold the law as long as it desires, rather the same should have been implemented within a reasonable time.

The court noted that it took more than six years to implement the Women Act across the province. Apparently, no good reason could be furnished by the government for such an inordinate and unnecessary delay in enforcing a beneficial piece of legislation.

Such conduct of the government would amount to negating and nullifying the constitutional mandate of the legislature, said the court. Every discretionary power vested in the executive should be exercised in a just, reasonable and fair manner.

The court observed that the most exclusive and distinguishing feature of the Women Act is that it covers violence against women as a whole, instead of providing remedies against domestic violence only as compared to the legislation introduced in other provinces. It is more exhaustive and comprehensive in its application to provide refuge to the women victims of all types of violence, the court added.

The court held that it’s never too late to ask the government to further ensure the strict implementation of the Women Act, keeping in mind its benefits as seen from standpoints of social justice and welfare as well as protection of women, which was the primary intention of the legislature. Any failure on the part of the government in this regard would amount to defeating such intentions, the court concluded.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023

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