ISLAMABAD: The Upper House of the Parliament on Monday passed The Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2020, a government bill that mainly envisages stringent measures against the proscribed organizations in line with Pakistan's commitment with Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The bill has already been passed the National Assembly and it now requires the ascent of President Arif Alvi in order to become a law.
During Senate session presided over by Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan presented the bill that was passed by the House after a detailed discussion. The Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2020, provides legal powers to the law enforcement agencies for speedy trial and disposal of terrorism cases and the powers for imposition of strict penalties, fines and restrictions. The bill lays down a mechanism for the freezing of assets of proscribed persons, proscribed organizations and the affiliates to curb terrorism.
On August 13, 2020, five FATF-specific government bills were moved in Senate and were referred to the relevant Senate standing committees. These were The Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2020, The Islamabad Capital Territory Trust Bill, 2020, The Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2020, The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and The Control of Narcotic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2020. All these bills were passed by the National Assembly on August 12. Presently, only The Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2020, has been cleared by the relevant Senate standing committee while the other four bills are still under the review of the standing committees concerned.
Three private member bills were laid in the House on Monday- The Compulsory Teaching of Arabic Language Bill, 2020, The Protection against Harassment of Students in Educational Institutions Bill, 2020, The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020, moved by Javed Abbasi from Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N). All the three bills were referred to the Senate standing committees concerned.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020