Amendments toughen punishments for wounding religious feelings, sectarianism, hate speech, proliferation of material by any person, false information, child abuse and lynching
The National Assembly on Friday passed The Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 by strengthening the criminal justice system, police and law of evidence and proposing tough punishments against certain crimes.
The bill was moved by Parliamentary Secretary for Interior Maryam Aurangzeb on behalf of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.
Through the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015, Pakistan Penal Code (PPC),1860, The Police Act, 1861, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) ,1898, the Qanoon-e-Shahadat, 1984 and the Protection of Pakistan Act, 2014 some amendments were proposed to toughen punishments against wounding religious feelings, sectarianism, hate speech, proliferation of material by any person, false information, child abusers and lynching.
According to statement of object and reasons, the whole nation is suffering from the trauma of brutal terrorist attacks. Terrorism, sectarianism, and extremism have gripped the whole country and these acts have become the order of the day.
The country is passing through an extraordinary situation which requires stringent measures to be taken in order to curb this menace which has infiltrated into our society. Some drastic amendments were made in the Anti terrorism Act, 1997 in the year 2013-14.
The Protection of Pakistan Act, 2014 was also passed after heated debates during its enforcement as an ordinance. The sole purpose behind all this was to provide protection for the people of Pakistan and prevention of acts threatening the security of Pakistan.
In these extraordinary circumstances the leadership of all the parliamentary parties have resolved to take special measures to root out the evil of terrorism from the country with an exemplary deterrence.
This objective cannot be achieved without strengthening the criminal justice system, the Police and the law of evidence. Therefore, some amendments are proposed in the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC),1860, The Police Act,1861,the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC),1898, the Qanoon-e-Shahadat, 1984 and the Protection of Pakistan Act, 2014 to achieve these objectives.
