Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: On the complaints of various political parties, especially the MQM, the federal government has decided to change the procedure of arrest of any person. In this regard, a new law will be introduced in parliament, sources in the Ministry of Law told Daily Times. Law minister Zahid Hamid has drafted a bill in this regard and the federal cabinet approved it, but Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif directed the law minister and other concerned departments to consult with provincial governments, sources said. The basic reason to introduce this bill was to know the whereabouts of arrested persons. MQM and other parties had serious reservations over powers of security forces regarding arrest of any person so the federal government would now streamline the whole process and shall make it transparent. We are amending the Criminal Procedure Act 1898 and a new bill will be introduced with the name of criminal procedure amendment bill 2016. The purposed section 54-A says that a person shall, as soon as they are arrested, be informed in writing of the grounds of their arrest by the police officer on duty. The arrested person would then be allowed to inform his family of his whereabouts and he would be allowed to consult a legal practitioner of his choice. The arrested person would be allowed to talk to his family as well.