Awan wants CII to review domestic violence bill

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan has writen a leter to National Speaker Asad Qaiser, seeking a review of the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill, 2021, by the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) — a constitutional body that advises the legislature on whether or not a certain law is repugnant to the injunctions of Islam.

In the leter, Awan has pointed out that the bill passed in April this year, was referred back to the Lower House of Parliament ater the Senate suggested amendments to the proposed law. The leter states that concerns have been raised “regarding various definitions and other contents of the bill.”

“Most importantly it is being highlighted that the bill contravenes the Islamic injunctions and way of life as enshrined in responsibility of the state in Article 31 of the Constitution of Pakistan.”

Citing Article 230 (1) (b) of the Constitution, the leter says it “empowers the Islamic Council (CII) to advise a House, a Provincial Assembly, a President or a Governor on any question referred to it as to whether proposed law is or is not repugnant to the injunctions of Islam.”

Moreover, under Article 230 (1) (a), the body can make recommendations to parliament regarding ways and means to encourage Muslims in Pakistan to lead their lives, individually and collectively, in accordance with the principles of Islam, Awan stated in the leter. On these grounds, he wrote, it is advisable that the bill be referred to the CII.

Through this bill, a legal and institutional framework has been proposed for the territorial jurisdiction of Islamabad to ensure that victims of domestic violence were provided legal protection and relief and the perpetrators of this offence were punished, Mazari had said.

The bill was then referred to the Senate, where the opposition had defeated the government by one vote to block the immediate passage of the proposed law, insisting that the bill be referred to the relevant standing commitee for further deliberation. At the time, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Yousuf Raza Gilani had argued that while the bill was an important legislation that had taken months to be cleared from the NA, it needed to be referred to the standing commitee.