Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Senate panel on human rights has sought the viewpoint of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) and other stakeholders about the strategy to check the misuse of blasphemy and to review the procedure in this regard.

The meeting of the Senate Committee on Human Rights was held at the Parliament House with Senator Nasreen Jalil in the chair.

During the meeting, National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) Chairman Justice (r) Ali Nawaz Chohan submitted a report of the commission on the proposed amendments regarding procedural changes to check the misuse of blasphemy law.

He told the meeting that investigation of blasphemy cases should be conducted by the superintendent of police (SP)-level official and such cases be heard by the sessions judges rather than additional sessions judges.

The NCHR chairman said that the complainants who get fake blasphemy cases registered should also awarded sentences.

Most of the senators, including Farhatullah Babar, Kabir Ahmed, Nisar Muhammad, Samina Abid, Barrister Saif, Sehar Kamran and Sitara Ayaz, favoured the procedure evolved to check the misuse of blasphemy and to improve the existing laws in this regard.

Senator Mufti Sattarullah said that there was no need to amend the blasphemy law, and suggested to send this law to the CII.

The committee made consensus to further debate and review the procedure to check the misuse of blasphemy in its upcoming meeting.

Meanwhile, the panel expressed its concern over the absence of Balochistan Police inspector general and provincial interior secretary in the meeting and postponed the briefing on the law and order situation in Balochistan.

The panel also postponed the discussion on Rangers’ operation due to the absence of the Sindh Rangers director general.

The NCHR chairman told the committee that funds were not being released for the salaries of commission’s employees, saying that the commission did not even have funds for the maintenance of its official vehicles.

On this, the committee directed the Ministry of Human Rights to immediately release funds to the NCHR for the payments of salaries to its employees.