By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Tuesday passed a bill against corporal punishment of children in all educational institutions.
The bill was moved by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Mehnaz Akbar Aziz. The bill was passed with a majority of votes as no one from the treasury benches opposed the bill. The bill prohibits all kinds of corporal punishment against children in all educational institutions of Islamabad.
Last year, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had ordered a complete ban on corporal punishment in educational institutions in the federal capital territory and suspended Section 89 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
Hearing a petition filed by Chairman Zindagi Trust Shehzad Roy to ban physical punishment and torture over school students, the IHC suspended section 89 and served notices to concerned authorities. IHC CJ, Justice Athar Minallah remarked that National Assembly should also pass such bill banning physical punishment to the students at school. Terming the plea in the public interest, he issued the notices to secretaries of Home, Law, Education, Human Rights ministries and the IGP Islamabad.
