ISLAMABAD: National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday passed a bill against the corporal punishment of children.
The bill aims to criminalize all kinds of corporal punishment at workplaces, educational institutions and rehabilitation centres.
According to details, the bill was tabled by Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Mehnaz Akbar Aziz on Tuesday. It will now be tabled in the Senate. An amendment in the bill presented by the government was also passed.
The bill allows the authorities to sack or suspend those violating the law. As per the draft, the federal government will devise a comprehensive system to implement the law in registered and unregistered institutions.
In the draft, it said private institutions will have to assure the authorities that they comply with the new law. “If they failed to do so, their registration would be cancelled,” it added.
The latest law would also cancel provisions of Section 89 of the PPC that allows teachers and guardians to administer physical punishment in good faith and for the benefit of the child.
Earlier, Islamabad High Court (IHC) had banned all forms of corporal punishment in schools under the federal government.
The high court heard the case on the petition of singer Shehzad Roy, who had been involved in activism regarding education reforms for years. Roy asked the court to abolish Section 89 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), which allows parents, guardians and teachers to use corporal punishment in “good faith”.
IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, who was presiding over the case, remarked that Parliament had also been working on a bill on corporal punishment. The judge said that Article 14 of the constitution grants children the right to dignity and respect.
The counsel for Rory informed the court that a child had passed away in Lahore due to corporal punishment. He said that the parliament can continue the work on the passing of the bill but the punishment should be banned.
He pleaded with the court that students were being subjected to brutal torture by teachers. and such behaviour would affect the mental growth of students.
Justice Minallah subsequently suspended Section 89 of the PPC in the federal capital territory until the case’s conclusion. He ordered the government to submit its reply to the petition.
