ISLAMABAD: Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed The Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights (Amendment) Bill 2021, which provides for the protection of rights of ownership and possession of properties owned by woman, ensuring that “such rights are not violated by means of harassment, coercion, force or fraud.”
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz presented the said bill on behalf of Law and Justice Minister Farogh Naseem in the Senate sitting.
The bill was passed by National Assembly on June 7, subsequently landed in the Senate and was referred to Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice.
The bill was finally taken up by the House following its passage by the committee.
The Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights (Amendment) Bill 2021 seeks amendment to Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights Act 2020 to add Subsection 4 in the Section 5 of the said Act.
Section 5 empowers the ombudsman to pass orders on complaints filed before him/her in respect of title or possession of property to the complainant. However, there was no forum of appeal or representation against the orders of ombudsman. An amendment has now been introduced in the said Act to provide for right of representation against the said orders within 30 days.
The amended Section 5 reads, “Delivery of possession and transfer of ownership of property to women etc - (l) On conclusion of the proceedings… if the ombudsman finds that the complainant has been illegally deprived ownership or possession of her property, he shall direct the deputy commissioner or a state functionary or any private person to take steps so as to restore or confer possession or title of the property to the complainant, including measures to perfect such title. (2) The ombudsman may, where deemed fit, direct the officer-in-charge of a police station for such assistance as may be required for the purposes of implementing the orders passed…(3) The concerned deputy commissioner shall submit a compliance report within seven days to the ombudsman in respect of implementation of his orders, (4) Any person aggrieved by a decision of ombudsman…may, within 30 days of decision, make a representation to the president, who may pass such order thereon as he may deem fit.”
Later, speaking on the floor of the House, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Parliamentary Leader in Senate Sherry Rehman came down hard on Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Ali Amin Gandapur over money distribution controversy linked to general elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
“A person against whom a case should be registered for doling our bribe to buy votes in AJK polls, is roaming around freely in AJK. How dare he call Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto a traitor?” she said adding that the late Bhutto had several contributions to strengthen Pakistan.
Former chairman Senate Raza Rabbani from PPP and Azam Nazeer Tarar from Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) also criticized the government officials’ role against the backdrop of upcoming general polls in AJK scheduled on July 25.
Treasury and opposition benches exchanged hot words when Leader of the House in Senate Dr Shahzad Waseem took the floor and opposition senators started disrupting his speech.
“The kind of language the leaderships of these political parties (PML-N and PPP) have used in their election campaigns in AJK— has caused everyone hang their hands in shame,” he said.
Taking a jibe at Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F), Waseem said, “Those parties that used extremely derogatory language about Quaid-e-Azam and opposed the creation of Pakistan now claim to be custodians of this country.”
Meanwhile, Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan told Senate that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) would operate 55 special flights this month to bring 11,500 stranded Pakistanis back home from different parts of the world. A flight will also be sent to Saudi Arabia to bring back 85 Pakistani prisoners released by the Saudi authorities on the eve of Eid-ul-Azha, he added.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said government is improving road infrastructure across the country with several motorways and highways projects been launched nationwide.
These projects include Chitral-Garam Chashma, Lodhran-Multan, Khushab-Awaran, Shikarpur-Rajanpur- Dera Ghazi Khan, Zhob-Kuchlak, Sialkot-Kharian, Hyderabad-Sukkur, Balkasar-Mianwali, Kharian-Rawalpindi, Quetta-Chaman and others, Khan added.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said 550 million rupees were allocated in the federal budget to improve working conditions at Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV). The House will meet again on Friday morning.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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