A meeting of the Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Human Rights was held today; 27th June, 2014 under the convener ship of Chaudhry Mahmood Bashir Virk, in Committee Room No. 07, Fourth floor, Parliament House, Islamabad.

The agenda of the meeting was as under:

i.The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2014 (Moved by MoulanaAmeerZaman MNA);

ii.The Hindu Marriage Bill, 2014 (Moved by Dr. Darshan and Mr. Ramesh Lal, MNA);

iii.The protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace (Amendment) Bill, 2014 (Moved by Asia Nasir, MNA);

The Committee considered the first item regarding the The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2014 moved by MoulanaAmeezZaman, MNA. After detailed deliberations the Committee decided to recommend the bill regarding the constitution ofa High Court Bench in Loralai on the grounds that Loralai is the second biggest city in Baluchistan and is far away from Quetta.

  The Committee then reviewed the secondagenda item of The Hindu Marriage Billmoved by Dr. Darshan, MNA and Mr. Ramesh Lal, MNA. The Secretary Informed the Committee that the Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights obtained a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, and conducted a series of consultations with relevant Federal Ministries/Divisions and National Commission on the Status of Women and finalize a draft for Hindu Marriage Bill 2014. The said Bill is more comprehensive and conforms to the Constitutional Limits. After detailed discussion the Committee concluded that the Bill is in accordance with the feelings of the Hindu Community. The Committee in principal supported the Bill; however theCommittee deferred the bill for further study and more comprehensive drafting.

The protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace (Amendment) Bill, 2014, moved by Asia Nasir, MNA was discussed by the Committee. Through the amendments the scope of definitions of harassment, employees and employers is to be enhances to provide protection to a wide array of employees, workers in both formal and informal sectors as well as to the students/trainees, from all forms of harassment at work in pursuit of studies/vocational training. The Bill was deferred till the next meeting.

The meeting was attended by Chaudhary Muhammad Ashraf, Mr. Muhammad MoeenWattoo, Ms. KiranHaider, Mr. Muhammad AyazSoomro, Eng. Ali Muhammad Khan Advocate, Mr. S. A. IqbalQuadri, Moulana Muhammad Khan Sherani and Ms. Aisha.