Old law, new place: President Zardari approves extension of criminal law to PATA

Amendment provides women protection from forced marriage, Wanni, Swara.

President Asif Ali Zardari has approved the extension of The Criminal Law (Third Amendment) Act 2011 to the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata) of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Spokesperson to the President Senator Farhatullah Babar on Wednesday said under Article 247, Clause (3) of the Constitution of Pakistan, President Asif Zardari has signed the notification which brings The Criminal Law (Third Amendment) Act, 2011 into force in Pata, K-P.

Pata includes districts Chitral, Dir, Swat, Kalam, Malakand and tribal areas in Kohistan, and Mansehra.

K-P Governor Shaukatullah Khan approved the proposal to extend the act, and after the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs division examined the summary, it was forwarded by the Home and Tribal Affairs Department through the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (Safron) for President Zardari’s approval.

Under Article 247 of the Constitution, no act of parliament or provincial assembly shall apply to Pata, unless the Governor of the province, in which the tribal area is situated, so directs, with the approval of the president.

According a summary issued by Safron division, parliament has passed The Criminal Law (Third Amendment) Act 2011, in which Section 310-A of Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 and sections 498-A, B & C of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 have been amended.

Section 310-A provides for imprisonment of no less than three and no more than seven years and a fine of Rs500,000 for giving a female in marriage or otherwise in Badla-e-Sulh, Wanni or Swara, or in any other custom – under any other name – to settle a civil dispute or criminal liability.

Sections 498-A, B & C deal with offences against women and prohibit the dispossession of women from inheritance; forced marriage; and prohibits marriage with the Holy Quran, respectively.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2013.