Opposition lawmakers block passage of Criminal Law (amendment) Bill, 2010

In the Senate Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Human Rights, opposition lawmakers have blocked passage of the Criminal Law (amendment) Bill, 2010, which seeks legislation against counterfeiting as well as regulating the business of prize bonds.
The committee, which met with Senator Kazim Khan in the chair here at the Parliament House, however deferred the bill following tough resistance by the opposition members, including PML-N's Syed Zafar Ali Shah and Jamaat-i-Islami Professor Khurshid Ahmed.
The government wanted to pass the bill whereas the opposition members were of the view that the government should draft the relevant rules before giving approval to the bill. The opposition members said that there must be specified rules before the bill become an Act whereas the government was of the opinion that rules can be drafted after formation of the legislation.
Syed Zafar Ali said, the committee prior to giving final approval to the bill, must know about the specific rules, which may cover all the aspects like definition of the crime and specification of the punishment pertaining to illegal business of the prize bonds. Professor Khurshid even opposed the business of the prize bonds saying that it was meant to give a cover to black money. He further said that the business of the prize bond is gambling, which should not be allowed in an Islamic society.
While, briefing the committee Ameer Bashar, Additional Director General, National Savings, Ministry of Finance, earlier informed the members that the procedure of the issuance of prize bonds was issued under the Act of 1944. He said that Rs 244 billion had been invested in the prize bond business since 1971.
The committee gave approval to another treasury bill, the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2010 as was passed by the National Assembly, to provide relief to the accused languishing in the country's jails. The National Assembly had already passed the Bill, which amended the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) 1898. Statement of objects and reasons said that trials of the accused persons witness delay due to the pendency and huge backlog in the courts forcing the accused to languishing in jails for indefinite period.
The bill is aimed at providing relief in the shape of bail after two years in case of offences punishable to death and after one year in case of offences not punishable to death. This period is further reduced to one year and six months respectively in case of women accused.
The committee deferred a private Member's Bill titled "The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2010 introduced by the Jamaat-i-Islami senators for the next meeting. The bill seeks that every destitute in the society shall have a right to social security which includes provision of such financial resources or basic necessities like food, clothing and medicine through state agencies. However, chairman of the Committee, though said he was not opposing the suggestions made in the bill but argued that the country, which passing through various challenges like terrorism, law and order situation and downing economy, would not be able to accomplish the objectives of the bill. The chairman of the panel deferred the bill despite the fact that the required number of quorum was available either to approve or reject the bill.
The committee chairman also directed to invite Minister for Law and Secretary Law in the next meeting. In response to dissatisfaction expressed by Professor Khurshid Ahmad over the failure of the successive governments in Pakistan, Senator Kazim Khan said that intelligence agencies don't let any government to stay. During the proceedings, Afzal Tahir, Director Schemes, Central Directorate of National Savings, informed the committee that the Directorate had offered the government to fund major development projects like construction of Munda Dam and Bhasha Dam. He said that several meetings had been held on the matter and the government had shown positive response on the issue.