National Assembly rejects bill seeking ban on under-18 marriage

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Tuesday rejected the bill to amend the child marriage restraint act 1929 with big margin, ARY News reported.

Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said no legislation could be made against Islam. He said the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) had opposed the bill in the past.

Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari supported the bill saying that Turkey and Bangladesh had also set 18 years of age for marriage. “Parliament is supreme, it can take decision,” she said.

On April 30, the Senate had passed, with majority vote, the bill to amend the child marriage restraint act 1929.

According to the amendment, marriage under 18 years can lead to a fine of Rs200,000 and three years of strict punishment for facilitators.

Senator Sherry Rehman presented the bill to be passed unanimously, however, Senator Ghafoor Haidri raised an objection saying the bill should be sent to Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) for further deliberation.

Following the debate on the bill, the Senate chairman had sought voting and passed the bill with opposition of five votes.

The Senate Standing Committee for Human Rights had approved the Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Bill 2018 on Jan 30.

Earlier, Senator Sherry Rehman had pointed out that after every 20 minutes, a woman dies in Pakistan of maternity-related complications and that out of every 100 females, 40 percent are married below the age of 18.

The post National Assembly rejects bill seeking ban on under-18 marriage appeared first on ARYNEWS.

Comments

Accountability court hears assets case against Ishaq Dar

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Islamabad on Wednesday resumed the hearing of a reference filed against former finance minister Ishaq Dar by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for allegedly accumulating assets beyond his known sources of income. Judge Muhammad Bashir is recording the statement of a prosecution witness, Ishtiaq Ahmed. At the previous hearing, the accountability judge had reserved his verdict on an application filed by two co-accused seeking acquittal in the case. Naeem Mehmood and Mansoor Rizvi, who are directors of Dar’s companies, had filed the application requesting the judge to exonerate them from all charges for want of evidence. Qazi Misbah, the counsel for the two co-accused, contended the prosecution has failed to provide compelling evidence to prove the allegations leveled against his clients. The third co-accused President National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Saeed Ahmed, had already filed an application before the court for his acquittal wh...

SFA raids several restaurants in Karachi, imposes fine

KARACHI: The Sindh Food Authority (SFA) on Friday raided several restaurants in city’s North Nazimabad area over unhygienic conditions, ARY News reported. According to the SFA, one of the restaurants was found utilizing the used oil multiple times. The items were also not properly frozen while crockery for serving the food was also not clean. The team imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the restaurant. The SFA team found hygiene standards were sheerly compromised in food making to the core. The food inspectors said they had previously served notices to the food outlets, but the restaurant owners apparently turned a blind eye to it. Raids were also conducted in district Malir and Gulshan-e-Hadeed. Sanitary conditions and lack of fumigation facilities were found at the restaurants in some of the Malir outlets. The SFA team also raided a bakery ‘Friend Bakers’ and imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 over poor hygiene. Similarly another roadside restaurant was fined Rs 20,000 for neglecting he...

Trump says US generals feel Beirut blast was likely an ‘attack’

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Tuesday cast a massive explosion in Beirut as a possible attack, despite statements by Lebanese leaders that it was likely caused by highly explosive material that had been stored at warehouses in the capital for years. “The United States stands ready to assist Lebanon,” Trump said at a White House briefing of Tuesday’s explosion, which killed at least 78 people and injured thousands. “It looks like a terrible attack.” When asked later about his depiction of the explosion, Trump said that he had met with some U.S. generals who feel the blast was not “some kind of a manufacturing explosion type of event.” He told reporters that according to these unnamed generals “they seem to think it was an attack. It was a bomb of some kind.” The Pentagon referred questions to the White House. Two U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it was unclear where Trump was receiving his information but that initial information did not appear...

Siasat Wala Blog

Search This Blog