In Sindh, absent rules of business biggest hurdle

Special Assistant to CM, Sharmila Faruqi blames ‘bureaucratic lethargy’

KARACHI:

A number of women-related laws have been introduced in Sindh, with a few of them already passed in the provincial legislature, since the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) assumed power in 2008.

However, activists and parliamentarians say no Rules of Business have been established for any of the pro-women bills passed up till now, resulting in failure of their proper implementation. “Rules of Business are basically an extension into the working of the bill,” explains lawyer and activist Maliha Zia Lari, who helped draft the domestic violence bill.

Once a bill is passed in the assembly, the next step is to form its rules of business, which can only be formulated by the law department. Citing an example, Lari says that under the domestic violence bill, committees were to be formed at the district level in order to support victims, facilitate and protect them. However, in the absence of the rules of business, the committees have yet to be formed.

While rules of business are necessary for the operational structure and functioning of the bill, cases and FIRs can nonetheless be registered once the bill has been passed. But Lari says she hasn’t come across any FIR filed against domestic violence in the province. There have, however, been cases reported on child marriages.

Special Assistant to the Chief Minister, Sharmila Faruqi, who has been an active parliamentarian in submitting pro-women bills, blames the delay in formation of rules of business on ‘bureaucratic lethargy’. “There should be a time limit for rules of business to be made within three months.”

Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act 2013

The provincial government passed this act in 2014, becoming the country’s first legislature to prohibit marriages under the age of 18. Under the law, guardians and facilitators can be sentenced to three years and fined Rs45,000. The offence is cognizable and non-bailable. Activists, however, say it has a flaw: it doesn’t declare the marriage null and void. A similar act was introduced by PML-N’s Marvi Memon in the National Assembly, but was shot down by the Council of Islamic Ideology which declared it ‘un-Islamic’.

Sindh Domestic Violence (Protection and Prevention Bill), 2013

The bill was passed on this day in 2013. Three years later, it remains unimplemented. Under the law, a commission, committees and offices were to be formed, but are yet to be established in the absence of rule of business. “The police, judiciary and general public do not know this law exists. There is lack of awareness,” says Aurat Foundation’s resident director, Mahnaz Rahman.

The Sindh Commission on the Status of Women Act, 2015

The bill was passed last year to form a commission that would focus on social, legal, political and economic rights of women in the province. “All the other three provinces have formed the commission, but it hasn’t been established in Sindh. Legislators are quick to make and pass the law, but their implementation remains a question,” says Rahman.

Hindu Marriage Bill 2016

Catering to the Hindu community, the bill is also seen as a relief for Hindu women, whose marriages can now be officially registered and they can have their own NICs. 

Future bills

According to Faruqi, some of her bills – such as one on DNA testing being mandatory for rape cases along with one against dowry, another one on women’s health, and acid attacks – are pending in the Sindh Assembly. Lawyer Maliha Zia says that they are also working on a bill related to forced conversion, stressing that a minor shouldn’t be allowed to change his/her religion.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2016.