Pakistan’s Senate on Tuesday voted by majority to pass the 1980 Railways Amendment Bill, which aims to eliminate duplicative penalties in other laws. The Federal Minister of Justice, Azam Nazir Talal, has asked Parliament to consider a bill to further amend his 1890 Railways Act (the Railways (Amendments) Bill 2022). The minister said similar crimes were repeated in three different laws he said. The Railway Law referred to the death penalty, life imprisonment, other penalties, and small fines for the willful destruction of railway facilities.
Similarly, the Anti-Terrorism Act repeats the same penalties but imposes heavy fines, and Pakistan’s Penal Code (PPC) also deals with this issue. He said the previous government had initiated a review of all of these overlapping laws to eliminate duplication.
He said the bill was referred to a parliamentary committee where it was discussed in detail and then approved without objection. Opposition leader Shazad Waseem said the law dates back to the colonial era, but the government should also amend other colonial-era laws specifically designed to stifle democratic voting rice field. Such laws are used against political opponents.
The Justice Minister welcomed the opposition leader’s proposal and said the government hoped the opposition would correct its democratic stance. Opposition parties must accept democratic norms, voting rights and parliamentary supremacy, and opposition parties must sit in parliament to discuss such issues. He said Congress would be strengthened.