ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has formed a cabinet committee to review the bill to amend the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC) following a sharp division in the federal cabinet. gave Wednesday.
The controversial bill – the Criminal Laws Amendment Bill, 2023 – provides for the prohibition of criticism of certain state institutions, including the judiciary and the military, through warrantless arrest and up to five years in prison, along with a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh.
Prime Minister Shehbaz, who was presiding over the cabinet meeting, constituted a committee of ministers to review the legislation to make it admissible.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, Economic Affairs Minister Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and two other members of the coalition parties have been included in the committee.
Federal Ministers Khawaja Saad Rafique, Mian Javed Latif, Ahsan Iqbal and Dr. Mossadegh Malik belonging to Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Sherry Rehman, Syed Naveed Qamar and Hina Rabbani Khar of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) are among the cabinet members. were included. who opposed the bill in its current form.
Cabinet sources told JEE News that Rafiq opposed the bill, saying such legislation had proved counterproductive in the past. In the bill, anyone who insults Pakistan Army and judiciary by any means has been punished with imprisonment for up to five years.
The cabinet summary said that recently there has been a series of defamatory, insulting and demonic attacks on some institutions of the state including the judiciary and armed forces in the country. It is known that a deliberate cyber campaign has been launched by certain wings to incite and nurture hatred against key state institutions and their officials. Such attacks are aimed at undermining the integrity, stability and independence of the country’s state institutions.
The summary clarified that judicial and military officials do not get an opportunity to refute insulting and derogatory remarks made in the media.
The document reveals that in view of the long-tried legal principle enshrined in Section 196 of the CrPC, the federal government’s prior notice of a case or registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against any person. Approval is mandatory. Misuse of PPC section.
