NA panel clears bill to create legal aid authority

Reviews judicial commission’s report on attack on Sri Lanka cricket team

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Law and Justice on Wednesday recommended the passing of the bill to set up ‘The Legal Aid and Justice Authority’.

The committee, which met under the chairmanship of Member National Assembly (MNA) Riaz Fatyana, held detailed deliberations on the draft bill before forwarding it to the House.

Federal Law Minister Farogh Naseem said that the authority would provide pro bono legal aid to deserving individuals. He said it would work under the human rights ministry and provide aid in criminal cases only.

The authority will also pay off minor fines of those criminals who are unable to pay it themselves, he added.

The law minister also presented "The Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2019”, which was deferred till next meeting.

During deliberations on the bill, it was discussed that civil cases often drag on for decades with stay orders issued but hearings not held.

The committee also considered the reports of the judicial commission regarding terrorist attacks on Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in 2009.

The committee chair inquired whether there has been any implementation on the recommendations made by the commission while summoning a report regarding the same. He observed that the Punjab home ministry had failed to satisfy the committee in three previous meetings.

The committee recommended that the Punjab Home Department secretary, additional inspector general and Establishment Division additional secretary should attend the next meeting with complete record and details of the case.

It also summoned the details of the judicial inquiries carried out in the four provinces between 2002 and 2019, and also discussed the matter of the murder of judges in a district jail of Sialkot.

Meanwhile, the Committee also considered the public petition on the crash of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) fokker flights of Multan and Chitral and the compensation granted to the affected families.

Both the complainant and the representatives of PIA apprised the committee that the two parties had agreed to implement and comply with the judgment and decree passed by the Sindh High Court.

The complainant has acknowledged that the officers of PIA have agreed for the payment of the same amount as decreed by the court, the committee was informed.

Atta Ullah, Lal Chand, Muhammad Farooq Azam Malik, Kishwar Zehra, Maleeka Ali Bukhari, Muhammad Sana Ullah Khan Mastikhel, Agha Hassan Baloch, Ch Mehmood Bashir Virk, Usman Ibrahim and Nafeesa Shah along with senior officers from the law ministry and others attended the meeting.