Daily Times

The Anti-Terrorism (3rd Amendment) Bill, 2020, was passed by the National Assembly on Tuesday after it was brought forward before the Lower House of Parliament through a motion.

The bill was not included in the assembly’s agenda and the opposition parties staged a protest after it was introduced as a supplementary agenda during the proceedings. The anti-terrorism bill is aimed at introducing new applications of investigation techniques during the probe. The investigation officer would probe regarding the laundered money within 60 days after permission from the relevant court.

The new technique includes probing the transactions using secret operations, probing the telecommunication, and other computer-related devices of the accused. The probe into the matter could be further extended for 60 days after approval from the concerned court.

It is pertinent to mention here that a joint session of the Parliament has also been summoned on Wednesday (today) for the passage of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-related legislation.

Ahead of the parliament’s session, a meeting of the Standing Committee of Senate on Interior has been summoned to get the approval of the FATF-related bills.

Later, the House resumed discussion on the situation arising out of unfortunate crime of gang rape against a woman on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was also introduced in the House. The bill, introduced by Amjad Ali Khan, proposes amendments in the Pakistan Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, penalizing the intentional ridiculing and defaming of the armed forces of Pakistan or any of its member. A person guilty of such offence will be punished with imprisonment for a term up to two years or fined for up to five hundred thousand rupees.