Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice Wednesday recommended various amendments in Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Bill, 2021.
The bill was moved by Law Minister Dr Muhammad Farogh Naseem on June 15.
The Senate body met here under the chairmanship of Syed Ali Zaffar. Members including Shibli Faraz, Muhammad Azam Khan Swati, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Mian Raza Rabbani, Faooq Hamid Naek, Kamran Murtaza, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, Walid Iqbal and senior officers from the Ministry of Law and Justice attended the meeting.
Minister for Law and Justice, Farogh Naseem and Parliamentary Secretary for Law and Justice Malika Bukhari were also present. The committee after detailed review of the various clauses, recommended various amendments to the Anti-Rape Bill.
Taking up the issue of inclusion of transgenders into the Bill, the ministry suggested doing so would create complications, especially due to capacity issues in the healthcare sector. Child transgenders, however, would fall under the ambit of children in this law. The committee recommended that retired judges must not be considered for this specialized court.
The ministry clarified that the reason for inclusion of retired judges was to facilitate women, since there were many women retired judges who could bring value to this mission. The age bracket was reduced to 65 years.
Voting on the decision to establish special courts was conducted, which was in the affirmative. The ministry, while providing its stance on the matter was of the view that the creation of special courts was crucial to ensure that women were given a fair hearing and a congenial environment to generate evidence. Raising concerns regarding false accusations, the committee was of the view that a safety valve must be given to the accused to ensure no injustice was done. The committee stressed the need to include a clause that would allow for questioning to establish the presence or absence of consent. It was consented that the Bill would be passed after reviewing the amended clauses in the next meeting.
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