The Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court was informed on Tuesday that the federal government would file an appeal against Federal Shariat Court’s December 21, 2010 judgment on the Women Protection Act (WPA) 2006. The bench of Justice Tariq Parvez, Justice Saqib, Justice Asif Khosa, Justice Dr Fida Khan and Justice Dr Al-Ghazali was hearing two petitions filed by the SCBA Executive Member Aslam Ghumman and the Women Action Forum. Appearing on notice, Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq informed the court that the government intended to challenge the FSC judgment against WPA 2006 and it would file the petition in this regard very soon. He requested the court to grant some time for filing the appeal against the FSC verdict, which the court accepted and adjourned proceedings for an indefinite period.
Earlier, the same bench had accepted the same appeal on April 27 and issued notice to the AG for getting the government’s stance on the matter. The FSC declared various sections of the Women Protection Act 2006 in violation of the Islamic Sharia. It said sections 11, 25, 28 and 29 of the Women Protection Act 2006 were contradictory to the article 203DD of the constitution because these provisions annulled the overriding effect of the Hudood Ordinance 1979.
