The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) Thursday said there was no bar on courts to order public hanging of a culprit of heinous crime. "The government and the courts can go ahead for public hanging to a convict sans amending any law, if severity of the crime demands punishing the culprit publicly," the CII conveyed to Senate in response to its reference on the question of public hanging. It said its reply was based on the teachings of Islam.
"There is no need to amend Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) Act's Section 364-A rather there is a need to ensure punishing culprits involved in heinous crime in order to build trust and confidence of the victim families in the judiciary." The CII opined the country's judicial system needed reforms for ensuring speedy justice not only to the satisfaction of the victim families but also to make punishment certain. Culprits involved in heinous crime must be punished promptly, it added.
The main aim of punishment in the Islamic Shariah, it said, was to set an example and create deterrence against the crime as explained in the Holy Quran that a group of three to 40 people should witness the execution of the punishment. Islamic jurisprudence defines the word 'Taifa' as a group of people comprising from three to 40 people, it added.
According to CII response, the Shariah envisages the punishment of public execution in the severe forms of dacoities. Regarding other punishments in Islam, an example should be made out of the culprit for deterrence in the society against the crime. The purpose, of creating deterrence and making an example out of the culprit, can even be achieved through media publicity of the execution of the punishment, the CII said while referring to interpretation of Islamic scholars and jurisprudence. The Senate Secretariat had referred to CII a proposed amendment to Cr.PC to allow public hanging. The Senate Committee on Interior had recommended the amendment to publicly hang the convicts like the one involved in Kasur incidents.
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