Advice to legislature: No need to amend blasphemy law, says CII

Says law against fake FIRs already exists; asks parliament to review Women Protection Act.

ISLAMABAD:

The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) on Thursday ruled that there is no need to amend the blasphemy law but its misuse needs to be stopped.

Law against the registration of fake FIRs already exists and should also be implemented against the registration of fake blasphemy cases, the top body of clerics observed in its meeting held under its chairman Maulana Muhammad Khan Shirani.

The CII is a constitutional body that advises the legislature whether or not a certain law is repugnant to Islam.

Though the council remained indecisive over a number of important legislative issues related to Islamic jurisprudence, the members agreed to continue deliberations, said Tahir Ashrafi, one of the members of the council.

Ashrafi, who is also chairman of Ulema Council of Pakistan, said that the members of the body were unanimous against any change in blasphemy law. “We will not allow anyone to touch this (blasphemy) law,” he said.

The CII agreed that DNA tests could be used as evidence in rape cases.

“The discussion on DNA testing was also successful and we were unanimous on the issue that DNA tests can be presented as evidence in rape cases coupled with other circumstances of the crime,” a member of the body said.

Earlier, the council had ruled that DNA tests could only be admitted as primary evidence if the accused denied charges of rape and if four witnesses were available as per Islamic law.

The council dismissed the Women Protection Act 2006 and recommended the parliament to re-examine the act.

The legal minds will also work on the implications of the Women Protection Act 2006 before sending it to the parliament, said another member of the council. Ulema were convinced that certain clauses of this act are contrary to the Islamic teachings of Quran and Sunnah.

CII, according to the Constitution, makes recommendations to the parliament, “as to the ways and means of enabling and encouraging the Muslims of Pakistan to order their lives individually and collectively in all respects in accordance with the principles and concepts of Islam as enunciated in the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th, 2013.