New legislation enhances jail terms

Senate panel stiffens penalties for people involved in illegally sending Pakistanis abroad

ISLAMABAD:

The Senate’s Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development has approved a bill to increase the punishments of those who cheated in sending Pakistanis abroad and to appoint labour attachés in embassies abroad.

The punishment of the people involved in making them do wrong was increased from seven to 14 years. The bill “The Emigration (Amendment) Bill, 2022” was introduced by Dr Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The objective of the bill is to consolidate and rationalise the law in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and at the trans-provincial level, relating to the formation of trade unions, and federation of employers and workers, the avoidance and settlement of differences or disputes arising between them or matter connected therewith.

The bill, which was passed unanimously, approves increasing the punishments of those who cheated in sending Pakistanis abroad and appointing labour attachés in embassies abroad.

Under the bill, labour attachés will be appointed in Pakistani embassies abroad, along with those who will escort Pakistanis abroad and prosecute them for wrongdoing abroad or against what they may be asked to do in Pakistan.

On the recommendations of the committee regarding the arrears of the families of the Pakistanis who died abroad by the Overseas Pakistani Foundation, the officials and the Rise Pakistani Foundation told the committee that an amount of Rs840 million has been requested from the Ministry of Finance for which a letter is being written. The committee directed the distribution of the money as soon as possible.

The OPF officials told the committee that there are 10,000 Pakistani prisoners in foreign jails, among them, there is not a single prisoner who has completed his sentence abroad and is still imprisoned.

However, the committee urged that there are quite a few Pakistanis who are in prison despite completing their sentence.

Meanwhile, the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill, 2022, introduced by Senator Shahadat Awan of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), was also approved by a majority vote in the committee.

Senator Zeeshan Khanzada opposed the bill, stating therein that the powers should remain to be vested with the federal cabinet and not be shifted to the prime minister.

Member National Industrial Relations Commission of Pakistan Noor Zaman gave a briefing to the committee regarding the amendment.

The authorities said that wherever the word per-government is used in the act, it is being replaced with the prime minister in the Mustafa Impex case. The court declared the government as a cabinet after which it is being changed.

He further said that because we had to wait for the decision of the cabinet for small matters, before 2016, all these decisions were made by the prime minister, but after the decision of the Supreme Court, the competent authority has become the cabinet, due to which matters are being affected, after which the cabinet had decided to replace all the Acts (in legislation) wherever the Government came to be replaced by the prime minister, thus amending all the concerned ministries, he explained.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2023.