LAHORE – The much hyped Punjab Women Protection Act 2016 has been called in question before the Supreme C0urt by Watan Party through its provincial president Basim Khan.
The petitioner has mainly assailed the Act on the parameter set by Islam for relationship of man and woman. Invoking patent jurisdiction of the Apex Court, the petitioner has urged the court to evaluate the recently made law by the Punjab Assembly on the touchstone of Islamic injunctions wherein status and responsibilities of man and woman are well defined.
Filed by Barrister Zafarullah Khan, the petitioner contends most of the clauses of the impugned Act aim at imposing state-modeled personal life breaching privacy of family life and disturbing the family institution.
It says law could easily ruin marriages because women had been encouraged to file complaints under the provided remedial institutions as stated in the law. The petitioner pleaded that the law would be misused by fraudulent marriages and exploiters and it would encourage corruption in the society.
It further said since the Constitution was known as the “Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan” and not the “Constitution of Republic of Pakistan” that could mean that it was a secular constitution. It has prayed to the court to set aside the impugned Act as unlawful and hitting at the basic principle of Islamic injunctions. The petitioner has also prayed interim stay on the implementation of the Act meantime the petition is finally decided.
