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Hasba restricts basic rights: SC
The Supreme Court (SC), in its detailed reasons for rejecting the Hasba Bill of the NWFP government, has ruled that no legislation could be made to interfere with the private life, personal thoughts and individual beliefs of citizens. In its 106-page detailed unanimous judgement, the SC has laid the onus on the rationale that Hasba was a discriminatory and unconstitutional legislation which gave discretionary powers to the newly envisaged office of âmohtasibâ, leading to interference in the personal life of citizens and establishing parallel offices of executive and judiciary. âIt is observed that private life, personal thoughts and the individual beliefs of citizens cannot be allowed to be interfered with. Islamic jurists are unanimous on the point that except salat (prayer) and zakat (alms) no other religious obligation stipulated by Islam can be enforced by the state,â states the detailed judgement.The NWFP Assembly passed the Hasba Bill on July 14 with a majority of 68 votes against 34 opposition votes. The bill envisaged an office of mohtasib with special powers to implement Islamic laws in the province. However, President Pervez Musharraf filed a reference the next day seeking the SCâs opinion on the Hasba Bill under its advisory jurisdiction. Posted by: Fred 2005-09-01 |
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