The untiring efforts of the Federal Law Minister Barrister Dr. Muhammad Farogh Naseem, Parliamentary Secretary for Law and Justice, Barrister Maleeka Bukhari and others who worked day and night have borne fruit as 5 Bills related to Financial Action Task Force (FATF) were passed by the National Assembly today. A consensus was developed with the opposition parties for the passage of these Bills. Dr. Farogh Naseem played a pivotal role in building the consensus between treasury and opposition benches. A number of contentious issues were taken care of in inter-ministerial meetings to meet the deadlines.
The Bills include Anti Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2020; The Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2020; The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020; The Control on Narcotic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and the Islamabad Capital Territory Trust Bill, 2020.
One of the major achievements of today was the amendments in sections 6, 11EE, 11J,11N,11O,11OO,11Q,19 and 21EE of the Anti-terrorism Act, 1997. The Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2020 has paved the way for the extension of the scope of the application of the penalties to those who are involved in terrorism in any manner outside the boundaries of the country. It would also help to match the penalties, fines and restrictions for same kind of punishments and to provide legal powers to the law enforcement agencies for speedy trial and disposal of cases. The freezing of assets of proscribed persons and organizations will help curb terrorism.
This proposed legislation, right before Pakistan’s Independence Day, is a gift for Pakistan as it is a major leap towards turning the economy from black to white and for settling the matters related to FATF.
