Bill to declare suicide as a mental illness forwarded to CII
Pakistan
Senate chairman said the bill will be sent to Council of Islamic Ideology for its recommendations.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - The Senate on Monday referred a bill tabled by an opposition member to Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) seeking to decriminalise attempted suicide and provides for treating it as a mental illness while passed three different resolutions unanimously, including promotion of Electric Vehicles (EVs) and establishment of charging stations network and infrastructure across the country.
Session was held under the Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani. The bill tabled by PPP lawmaker Shahadat Awan proposed an amendment in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898. The bill was supported by the government members as well, leading to its passage.
In another bill, Senator Awan proposed amendments in the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898. This bill pertained to declaring suicide a mental illness.
Awan said suicide was not a criminal offence but a mental illness. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) leader Abdul Ghafoor Haideri said Islam forbids suicide.
PTI lawmaker MNA Ali Mohammad Khan said that the people who commit suicide are not mentally well. However, he said that it must be assessed if the decriminalisation would lead towards a spike in the suicide rate.
PTI Senator Shehzad Waseem said that further consultations should be held on this bill, adding that opinions should be sought from scholars as well as scientists.
Azam Nazir Tarar said that 80% of countries of the world have abolished such laws.
The Senate chairman said the bill will be sent to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) for its recommendations. He said that the bill would be discussed in the committee after the opinion of the council.
The Senate also passed a resolution on promotion of Electric Vehicles (EVs) and establishment of charging stations network and infrastructure across the country.
Speaking on resolution, moved by Senator Seemee Ezdi, Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz said the government had already approved the Electric Vehicle Policy that would help tackle environmental issues and save billions of rupees oil import bill.
He said people were importing luxury and hybrid vehicles and there was the need for an effective infrastructure to promote the friendly transport system in the country.
Shibli Faraz said the present government also gave incentives on import of parts of electric vehicles and other related machinery, and decrease duty from 25 percent to 10 percent on electric vehicles.
The House also passed a resolution, moved by Senator Kamran Murtaza, unanimously to ensure representation of all federating units in the Federal Public Service Commission, Islamabad.
Another resolution passed by the House, called upon the government to take special measures for implementing the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act, 2017, in letter and spirit, establishing a state of the art ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution)/ mediation model in Islamabad’s jurisdiction for providing alternatives to litigation. The resolution was moved by Senator Seemee Ezdi.
While, the House deferred a resolution, moved by Senator Mohammad Humyun Mohammad, that sought necessary constitutional and administrative steps to declare FATA as ‘Rural Area’ of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to protect the quota of erstwhile FATA in government jobs and educational institutions on permanent basis, as was being practiced in Rural Sindh whose quota was separate from Urban Sindh.
Commenting on the resolution, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said that 3 percent quota had been reserved for the people of erstwhile FATA till 2030.
He suggested the House to refer the resolution to the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for consultations.
Leader of the Opposition in Senate Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani endorsed the point of view of Ali Muhammad and said that the House should take the opinion from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on the issue.
