The federal cabinet on Tuesday approved the formulation of a separate judicial system for overseas Pakistanis to ensure summary trial. Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain made this announcement while addressing a press conference after a federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad.
The cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan. The overall political and economic situation of the country was discussed. Briefing the media regarding cabinet decisions the information minister said that the laws would be enacted to facilitate the overseas Pakistanis as per the prime minister’s vision. He said that overseas Pakistanis are an asset to the country. He said similar laws will be enacted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, where Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is in power.
The minister said the cabinet expressed concern over the number of stay orders due to which the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is unable to collect revenue of over Rs. 3 trillion. He said the Law Ministry has been asked to take up this matter with the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the chief justices of high courts. He said it has been recommended that there should be a separate forum to resolve such policy issues.
Fawad said the cabinet called for enacting stringent laws against the use of filthy language and hate speech on social media.
The minister said the country’s first-ever Digital Cloud Policy, the export of 34,500 metric tons of Mung beans to Afghanistan under the World Food Program and reduction in prices of Remdesivir injection from Rs. 3,967 to Rs. 2,308 to treat Covid-19 patients also got the cabinet’s nod. He added that it is a matter of great satisfaction that Pakistan has now become a major exporter of Covid related material, including Remdesivir injection.
The minister informed that the cabinet approved the $821.80 million debt repayment agreement with Saudi Arabia. He informed that the cabinet also approved the extension of international bonds issued for the economic stabilization of the country.
“The cabinet directed the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Law to consult on the provision of administrative and institutional protection to these bonds”, the minister added.
Fawad informed that the cabinet also approved Pakistan’s first digital cloud policy, which is designed to provide one-stop security in government institutions in line with international standards of digital data. He said that this policy would help in training manpower for cloud computing in the country, timely use of data for important policymaking, efficient utilization of resources, and increasing investment opportunities in the digital sector.
The minister said that the federal cabinet also gave in-principle approval to the draft Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022. This law will protect citizens from accessing, using, and preventing misuse of personal information. International data protection rules and regulations will be part of this bill. The draft will be sent to the legislative committee.
