PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa caretaker government on Thursday approved the promulgation of an ordinance to increase punishments for rioting, holding unlawful gatherings, and refusing to accept its orders or obstructing their implementation.

The development came during a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister retired Justice Syed Arshad Hussain Shah here, according to an official statement.

It read that punishments under the Pakistan Penal Code’s sections 147, 148, and 188 and Schedule II of the Criminal Procedure Code were enhanced to prevent unlawful gatherings and riots, and to maintain the writ of the state.

The statement said after the promulgation of the ordinance, the punishment under Section 147 of PPC was up to two years imprisonment or fine or both, but it had been increased to three years with a fine up to Rs200,000.

It added that an additional three months imprisonment would be awarded to culprits over failure to pay the fine, while the sentence ‘may be arrested without a warrant and non-bailable’ had been added to Schedule II of the CrPC.

Project to digitise land records in tribal districts also extended

“The punishment under Section 148 of the PPC, which previously was up to three years imprisonment or fine or both, has been replaced with an imprisonment up to five years and fine up to Rs500,000, which shall not be less than Rs100,000. Additional imprisonment for six months has been approved for failing to pay the amount, while the words ‘may be arrested without a warrant and non-bailable’ has been added to Schedule II,” it said.

The statement also read that the punishment under Section 188 of the PPC was previously up to a month imprisonment or fine, which might extend to Rs600 or both, but in future, it would increased to an imprisonment up to one year and a fine up to Rs100,000, which wouldn’t be less than Rs25,000. An additional one month imprisonment was approved for those failing to pay the fine.

The statement added that while the punishment for an offense causing “danger to human life, health or safety, etc.” was up to six months or with fine that might go up to Rs3,000 or both had been enhanced to up to three years and fine up to Rs200,000, which won’t be less than Rs35,000. An additional imprisonment for two months will be handed down to the culprits not paying the fine.

The cabinet also approved the extension of the project of the Settlement and Digitisation of Land Records in merged tribal districts from seven to 25 sub-divisions and tehsils with the project’s enhanced cost of Rs1777.829 million.

It approved the release of Rs500 million for the irrigation department for maintenance, repair and de-silting of water and irrigation schemes, de-silting of canals and construction of embankments on riversfor protection from floods.

The cabinet approved the creation of different posts for the newly-created research cell at the directorate of prosecution of the home and tribal affairs department in line with the recommendation of the Apex Committee’s meeting on the implementation status of the revised National Action Plan, according to the statement.

It allowed the relaxation of the ban for the creation of one post of deputy director of research (BPS-18) and a post of assistant director at the directorate of prosecution.

The cabinet offered Fateha for former Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Qaiser Rasheed Khan, who passed away this week, as well as for the father of agriculture secretary Javed Khan Marwat.

The meeting was attended by ministers, advisers and special assistants to the chief minister, chief secretary, additional chief secretaries, and relevant administrative secretaries.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2024