‘Hudood laws violate norms of justice’
ISLAMABAD, Aug 07 2006: Different jurists have suggested that the Hudood ordinance has failed to serve its purpose and rather opened avenues of corrupt practices by the police and the lower judiciary. In a report prepared by the Aurat Foundation to develop a case for the repeal of Hudood Ordinance, which was promulgated by General Ziaul Haq in 1979, opinion of 16 jurists were sought. The names of the jurists are: Justice (retd) Dr Javid Iqbal, Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid, Justice (retd) Majida Rizvi, Justice (retd) M Shaiq Usmani, Justice (retd) Nasira Javid Iqbal, Justice (retd) Tariq Mehmood, Senator S M Zafar, Tahir Mohammad Khan, Syed Afzal Haider, Syed Iqbal Haider, S M Masud, Qazi Mohammad Jamil, Abid Hassan Minto, A Latif Afridi, Mehmoodul Hassan and Shamsa Ali.
Chief Justice (retd) Lahore High Court Dr Javid Iqbal was of the view that the Zina Ordinance was framed with malafide intention, haste and carelessness and women who become victims of this law mostly belong to the lower middle class or those who fall “below the poverty line” category, particularly the illiterate. He said the zina ordinance violates the norms of human rights, equity and principles of natural justice and fails to fulfil the objective of reforming the society.
In a society where there are plenty of people who can tell lies for serving their own interests, where the police is notorious and has unlimited authority, with a reputation of being corrupt and further it helps the powerful oppressor and where the judiciary is struggling with the executive authorities for its independence, the abuse of laws like zina ordinance is not unusual, Justice Iqbal observed. It is obvious that the law is used to whip the weak and oppressed women, he said. Zina ordinance is also incompatible with the provisions of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1962. Since many women of different ages are languishing in jails under this ordinance, therefore great responsibility lies on the shoulders of the educated men and women who have been elected to parliament that they should help the backward and oppressed women, he said.
Former chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry for Women Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid said the Zina ordinance had failed in achieving anything for creating a just society, rather had proved to be cruel instrument in the hands of police and the powerful sections of our feudal society. It has been excessively used mainly against the poorest of the poor and helpless women of our male dominated society, he said adding a visit to the female jails of our country would show that around one third of the confined women were victims of this ordinance.
He was of the view that the law should be repealed totally as there was no point in making amendments to keep the ordinance alive through cosmetic support. Justice Zahid however suggested that a committee of learned ulema should be constituted representing major schools of thought who by consensus should prepare a draft of a new law based on Surah Noor and this draft should be piloted through the parliament to make it an act of the parliament. Former chairperson National Commission on the Status of Women Justice (retd) Majida Rizvi said the hudood laws had resulted in the exclusion of women’s evidence under all hudood laws, which were full of lacunas and their enforcement had brought injustice.
Pakistani constitution guarantees that non-Muslims should be governed by their respective personal laws, whereas hudood laws being part of Tazeer (criminal law) were applicable to all citizens, including the non-Muslims. Justice (retd) Shaiq Usmani, former member of the special committee of the National Commission on the Status of Women to Review Hudood Ordinance said the only solution to alleviate the condition of the weakest section of the society namely the women and the children was to repeal these ordinance and then introduce a fresh bill in the parliament which should be debated by the ulema and other members of the parliament.
Senator S M Zafar said the Islamic jurisprudence enjoins the society to reassess and review the law, particularly its implementation, and if the law operates to promote injustice than to replace it by an appropriate new law. Advocate Abid Hassan Minto said the laws as framed were full of contradictions resulting into absurdities pointed out by several commentators and noted by the official commissions. Besides, these laws also offend against the constitutional guarantees extended to women and religious minorities.
Source: Dawn
Date:8/7/2006
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