Amid talks of declaring an emergency in Balochistan to control deteriorating law and order in the province by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the civil administration of the restive province has asked the federal and provincial governments to introduce radical reforms in existing laws to maintain peace in Balochistan.
The civil establishment of Balochistan has proposed around a dozen amendments in existing laws as it thinks plugging of loopholes in the judicial system will help maintain law and order in the turbulent province. According to sources, the provincial home department of Balochistan has proposed amendments in existing Evidence Act suggesting that confession before a Police/Levies Officer should be admissible in the court for the cases registered under Anti Terrorism Act (ATA) and evidence of Police/Levies Officer should be made admissible in cases of arms, ammunition and explosive material recovered. The Pakistan Army as well as other law enforcement agencies have been expressing concerns over the delay in introducing necessary amendments in laws dealing with terrorism, while various political parties in parliament have so far failed to develop a consensus on Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill 2010 and proposed piece of legislation is pending with the Senate Sanding Committee on Interior. They have been lamenting over the fact that detained terrorists used to escape due to weak prosecution or lack of evidence.
The civil bureaucracy of Balochistan had also asked the federal government that physical remand period in the cases registered under ATA should be extended up to at least three months. They proposed that punishment in cases of possession/recovery of illicit arms should be enhanced from three years to seven years. “Reformed version of FCR may be introduced in the border districts of Balochistan for eventual implementation of law of the land,” the home department has further proposed in its paper available with Pakistan Today. The home department says that the grant of bail in cases under Arms Ordinance should be eschewed. “Effective legislation to be framed so that a person or property is not used as bail surety in multiple cases and there is a need to build a Central Database at provincial level,” the department further says. The top officials of provincial government think that existing Explosive Act 1935 needs to be thoroughly revisited so that the entire process involved in the assessment of requirement, approval of quota, secure mode of transportation, safe custody and end user certificate shall be made more transparent and safe. “A new amendment in Arms Ordinance should be made whereby it should be mandatory for license holder to deposit at least one fired empty cartridge by that particular licensed weapon with the forensic laboratory of the province for the purpose of compiling a data bank,” the home department of Balochistan proposes.
It presses upon the need of expeditious trial in terrorist cases as well as witness protection program. It has also suggested appointment of faceless judges of ATA Courts from outside the province.
“Indemnity clauses should be made more comprehensive for the members of Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) in cases of terrorism and public disorder and in the event of any litigation the state should bear full cost. It has further proposed that special laws for de-weaponisation i.e. “recovery of Illicit Arms Act 1991” needs to be re-enacted and extended to entire of province and should be rigidly implemented. The Parliamentary Committee on the National Security (PCNS) headed by Senator Raza Rabbani too decided on May 17 that it would to propose landmark amendments in existing laws relating to counter-terrorism to maintain law and order and check disappearances in Balochistan.
