ISLAMABAD - The federal cabinet Tuesday approved formulation of a separate judicial system for overseas Pakistanis to ensure summary trial.
This was stated by Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain while briefing media here about the decisions taken in Tuesday’s meeting of the federal cabinet which met here with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair.
Also, the cabinet approved 15 percent Disparity Reduction Allowance 2022 for Grade 1 to 19 federal government employees and civil armed forces personnel, he added.
Overseas Pakistanis are considered an important support base of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). Fawad said these laws will be enacted in view of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision to facilitate overseas Pakistanis, who are the precious asset of the country. He said a similar judicial system will also be established in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, where PTI is in power. “We [cabinet] have given approval for a separate judicial system for overseas Pakistanis, continuing our tradition to think about and work for their benefit,” he said, adding that under this system, summary trials would be held for the cases of overseas Pakistanis.
He said an act for the implementation of this system in Islamabad had been sent to the Council of Common Interests and later, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa would adopt the same law. After this, he said, the system would be installed where the PTI is in government, including Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir.
In this connection, he acknowledged that expeditious trials were the right of every citizen. “But overseas Pakistanis come from abroad ... they can’t stay here for long and so this has been done for them,” he explained.
Answering a question on the occasion, the minister said petroleum prices in the country were bound to increase as the prices had shot up in the international market in the aftermath of the Ukraine crisis.
Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said the cabinet also expressed concern over massive stay orders due to which the Federal Board of Revenue is unable to collect revenue of over three trillion rupees. He said the Law Ministry has been asked to take up this matter with the Chief Justice of Supreme Court and the chief justices of high courts. He said it has been recommended that there should be a separate forum to resolve such policy issues.
He said the cabinet hoped that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court will present a serious point of view of the judiciary over this matter. He said the country was facing an “administrative crisis” due to the large number of stay orders and the law ministry had been asked to take up this matter with the chief justice of Pakistan and chief justices of high courts.
Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said the cabinet called for enacting stringent laws against use of filthy language and hate speech on social media. He said the cabinet had decided to address the issue of derogatory language being used on social media and some television channels. The government, he said, intended to frame laws in this regard and take strict measures.
Without specifying what he was referring to, the minister said this issue was “not just individuals but institutions and Pakistan’s security”. “Propaganda campaigns are launched on such kinds of issues that they pose a threat to Pakistan’s national security,” he said. But no action could be taken against those involved in such activities as these were bailable offences, he regretted, adding that the law ministry had been asked to improve laws pertaining to such matters and frame laws under which strict measures could be taken.
The minister also spoke about re-polling in the first phase of the local bodies elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, which concluded recently with the opposition Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) in the lead. The JUI-F emerged on top by securing 24 slots of the mayor/chairperson of tehsil councils followed by the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf that secured 17 seats. Independent candidates won 10 seats, the Awami National Party seven, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz three, Jamaat-i-Islami and Tehreek-i-Islahat Pakistan two each and Pakistan Peoples’ Party-Parliamentarians one.
Chaudhry expressed pleasure over the Sunday election results and maintained that the results once again showed why there was a need for electronic voting machines (EVMs) — an issue that remained a bone of contention between the government and opposition for the longest time. The information minister pointed out that the number of rejected votes in the recent re-polls in Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan was more than the “margin between the votes of winners and losers”.
Also Chaudhry Fawad Hussain claimed that the ‘corrupt opposition leadership’ would fail in their attempt for no-trust as they were going to land in jail for their loot and plunder of the national wealth.
They could bring a no-confidence motion if they managed to save themselves from the corruption cases, but he did not foresee any such move as they would be in jail before taking the misadventure, he said while addressing the post-cabinet meeting media briefing.
Accordingly, Fawad said, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib would move a resolution in the National Assembly for a comprehensive debate on live broadcast of the case of Leader of Opposition Shehbaz Sharif. It was all the more important to show the public as to how billions of rupees had poured into the accounts of low-grade employees of his (Shehbaz’s) mills, he added.
As regards the decisions taken in the cabinet meeting, the minister said it stressed the need of setting up a forum for consultation between the federal government and the higher judiciary on national issues, which would help end unnecessary delays in important administrative matters.
Among important pending matters, Fawad elaborated, the cases related to tax collection, investment and stay orders on administrative appointments were included that caused irreparable loss to the country.
At present, he said, the cases worth Rs 300 trillion of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Rs 250 billion of regulatory authorities were pending in various courts.
He said cabinet approved the reconstitution of the Board of Directors of the State Life Insurance Corporation (SLIC) on the recommendation of Ministry of Commerce. Besides the SLIC, the representatives of Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Finance with economic experts Humayun Bashir, Poro Sadwa, Moin Foda and Anwar Mansoor Khan independent members, would be part of the board. He said the cabinet allowed an international company ‘Peugeot’ to start importing its vehicles for testing to start car business in Pakistan
The cabinet, he said, also approved export of 34,500 metric ton Moong-pulse to Afghanistan on the humanitarian ground under the World Food Programme. He said it also endorsed the $821.80 million debt’s deferred payment agreement with Saudi Arabia. Payments of some $4 billion would be deferred by 2027, which would be could be used in carrying out development activities.
Fawad said the cabinet also okayed extension in the timeframe of international bonds issued for economic stability of the country, directing the ministries of Finance and Law to hold consultation to give administrative and institutional protection to them.
The cabinet, he said, approved the appointment of Dr Naveed Hamid as a member of the Monetary Policy Committee for another three years.
On the recommendation of the Ministry of Law and Justice, he said, the cabinet approved the appointments Justice (Retd) Mian Muhammad Ajmal, Justice (Retd) Faisal Arab, Justice (Retd) Muhammad Sair Ali and Advocate Syed Ayaz Zahoor in the Law and Justice Commission.
The minister said the cabinet accorded approval for transfer of 33.5 per cent share of China Zenhua Oil’s operation and working interest to the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) in the Baska Block.
He said it also gave its consent for the appointment of Brigadier (R) Tofique Ahmad as Director General of National Institute of Electronic.