The federal government has decided to restructure and empower the moon-sighting body, Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, by replacing Chairman Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman.
According to sources in the Ministry of Religious Affairs, a summary has been prepared along with a new bill seeking to reconstitute the moon sighting body and its Terms of Reference (ToRs).
The sources further said that the summary, along with the draft bill, has been sent to the Ministry of Law and Justice for further deliberations and legal opinions.
The draft mentioned that the incumbent chairman and members of the RHC would be replaced, while some existing and new religious scholars would be inducted in the committee.
he Ruet-e-Hilal Committee was set up in 1974 under a resolution passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan, and no rules and regulations for the functioning of the committee have been drafted till date. Earlier, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry had demanded the abolition of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee. Chaudhry, while talking to overseas journalists had criticized the clerics once again regarding the moon sighting techniques.