Corporal punishment in schools: IHC asks govt to take appropriate steps to present bill in NA

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday asked the federal government to take appropriate measures to present the bill on corporal punishment in schools in the National Assembly.

A single bench of IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the petition of singer and rights' activist Shehzad Roy.

He has sought ban on use of violence as a means to discipline children in the schools.

The IHC noted in its order, "Shireen Mazari, federal minister for human rights, Government of Pakistan has appeared. She has stated that a bill regarding prohibition of corporal punishment was approved by the federal cabinet."

The court order said, "She has further stated that the Ministry of Interior has referred the bill to the Islamic Ideology Council. The council has submitted its opinion wherein some objections have been raised."

The bench added that perusal of the opinion of the council shows that it was general in nature.

However, the opinion is not binding. "The federal government is therefore, at liberty to take appropriate measures for placing the bill before the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) along with the opinion received from the council for its consideration. It is for the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) to consider the bill, which essentially relates to a matter of immense public importance," read the order.

Justice Athar also noted, "Keeping in view the incidents reported from across the country regarding abuse of children, it has become inevitable for placing the bill before the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament)."

After issuing the aforementioned directions, the IHC bench deferred hearing in this matter till March 30th for final arguments.

During the court proceedings, Shireen Mazari apprised the court that the bill had been approved by the cabinet.

However, the Law Ministry said that it was the jurisdiction of the Interior Ministry.

She added that Prime Minister Imran Khan had also ordered a complete ban on corporal punishment.

Mazari further stated that the Council had opposed the ban on corporal punishment and said the court should term torture of children and corporal punishment as a violation of fundamental rights.

The IHC chief justice said there was no need to annul Article 89 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and inflicting corporal punishments on children was a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution.

Roy maintained that the Article 89 of the PPC was misused, as people who used corporal punishment say they were hitting the children with good intention, and requested the court to annul the legislation.

Justice Athar said that Article 14 of the Constitution ensured the safety of children and children could not be physically hurt even in the absence of the law.

An official of the education department said that as per the court directives, corporal punishment on children was completely banned in Islamabad from February 10th.

The IHC CJ remarked that a good teacher never served corporal punishment to the children.

The political leadership and the parliament have to change the mindset prevalent in the society.