ISLAMABAD: A three-member bench of the Federal Shariat Court (FSC), headed by FSC Chief Justice Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan, on Tuesday reserved its verdict on a set of identical petitions challenging the ‘Women Protection Act 2006’.
The petitions were by Muhammad Akhtar, Abdul Latif Sufi and Mian Abdul Razzaq Aamir. The petitioners contended that the removal of the offences of Zina and Qazf from the two hudood ordinances through the Women Protection Act 2006 was contrary to the injunctions of Islam.
They further contended that the punishment of whipping had been removed from the Hudood Ordinance through the act, which is un-Islamic. The act, introduced during the regime of former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf, is said to be aimed to bring the laws relating to Zina and Qazf in conformity with the constitutional mandate and to provide relief and protection to women against misuse and abuse of Hudood laws.
Through this Act, amendments were made in the Hudood Ordinance introduced by President Gen Ziaul Haq in 1979.
