• Senate committee seeks details of official, diplomatic passports in next meeting
• Clears bill allowing bank guarantee option for bail

ISLAMABAD: The Director Ge­­n­eral of Immigration and Passports, Mustafa Jamal Qazi, told a Senate panel that the backlog of passports had skyrocketed.

According to an official statement, he told the Senate Standing Committee on Interior that while there was no backlog in the overseas category, around 16.5 million applications were pending in the ‘normal’ category.

But on the face of it, the figure seems to be on the higher side, since the backlog stood at around 0.8m in May, and some observers believe the figure mentioned in the official statement could be a typo.

On Thursday, Mr Qazi informed the committee that the Passport and Immigration Department had earned Rs45 billion last year. The chairman of the committee, Senator Faisal Saleem Reh­man, directed the DG of Passport and Immigration to provide details on official and diplomatic passports in the next meeting. Nadra Chair­man retired Lt. General Munir Afsar briefed the committee on operations and performance of the Authority.

The Nadra Chairman explained that the authority’s role includes providing identification services to customers domestically and abroad, and that Nadra has processed 15.8 million cards last year.

The committee raised concerns about fake CNICs issued to Afghan nationals. The Nadra chairman said that the authority has terminated services of 629 employees who were found guilty of issuing fake CNICs to Afghans and prevented 3.8 million attempts to obtain CNICs through illegal means.

The committee commended Nadra for its efforts to curb fake CNIC issuance.

During the session, FIA DG Ahmad Ishaque Jehangir informed the committee that FIA operates throughout the country, except Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

“The FIA is committed to combating corruption, money laundering and cybercrime nationwide. Last year, FIA seized Rs5.593 billion in Hawala and Hundi transactions, recovered 6097 acres of Evacuee Trust land, saved 819.84 million electricity units, and investigated 45,080 connections to address allegations of overbilling by distribution companies (Discos),” he said.

The committee decided to hold a separate meeting to discuss issues related to overbilling by Discos. The committee was briefed by the chairman of CDA on its recent initiatives. The CDA chairman said that the government is committed to making CDA a robust and essential organisation with more digitalised presence. He said the CDA has recently digitalised its human resource department and identified 1,200 ghost employees.

Furthermore, the CDA has signed an MoU with the Punjab Land Record Authority for the digitalisation of land records which is expected to be completed this year.

The committee instructed CDA to provide details about ghost employees and recent allotments to employees.

The Senate committee also passed a Bill titled, “The Fatal Accidents (Amendment) Bill, 2024”. Senator Shahadat, the bill’s mover, stated that the bill seeks to ensure speedy justice and enable legal heirs of the victims to receive compensation in case of death due to accidents. The Committee also passed the Bill titled, “The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2024”.

The Bill seeks to insert section 59A in the CrPC and amend sections 431 and 431A. Senator Shahdat Awan, the bill’s mover, stated that the aim of the bill is to make it obligatory for law enforcement agencies under Section 59A to inform an accused of the charges under which she/he has been arrested. The Section 431A provides the right to the family of an accused facing a defamation suit to defend the case after the death of the accused.

The committee also passed a Bill titled “The Code of Criminal Proce­dure (Amendment) Bill, 2024”. Sena­tor Shahadat Awan, the bill’s mover, explained that the bill provides the option of a bank guarantee as security, in addition to cash and promissory notes, for persons seeking bail.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2024