National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior on Wednesday passed "The Mutual Legal Assistance (Criminal Matter) Bill, 2019."
The meeting was held here under the chairmanship of Member of National Assembly Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz. The meeting after passing the bill deferred the discussion on other bills due to the absence of the movers.
The Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) Bill, seeking an amendment to the PPC, called for exclusion of the death penalty to those extradited from other countries or in those criminal cases where the evidence is collected from foreign jurisdiction.
According to the mover of Mutual Legal Assistance Bill, once both houses of the parliament pass it and make it law, it would regulate the procedure for rendering and soliciting mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.
The statement of objects and reasons attached to the bill states: "Transnational organized crimes require collection of evidences from several countries. The available tool of mutual legal assistance does not bear fruit as the request under this arrangement is not entertained on the ground of apprehension regarding award of death penalty. It is, therefore, necessary to amend the PPC by excluding the death penalty."
The committee also directed the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) for comprehensive briefing on hardships being faced by people for making minor correction in their CNICs.
The committee raised question about criteria for issuance of Sehat Insaf Cards, as it has been observed that well-off citizens were also issued Sehat Insaf Cards. The committee asked a briefing by the chairman NADRA regarding the survey conducted by NADRA for issuance of the cards.
MNAs Sher Akbar Khan, Rahat Aman Ullah Bhatti, Malik Karamat Ali Khokhar, Sardar Talib Hassan Nakai, Syed Iftikhar Ul Hassan Nadeem Abbas, Syed Agha Rafiullh, Nawab Muhammad Yousuf Talpur, and Abdul Qadir Patel, and senior officers from the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Law and Justice, FIA and ICT attended the meeting.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019
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