PAKISTAN: DEATH PENALTY CANNOT BE AWARDED FOR HIGH TREASON

capital punishment cannot be awarded for high treason under Article 6 of the Constitution because of a lacuna in the High Treason Punishment Act, 1973, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Dr Babar Awan said. “According to the High Treason Punishment Act, 1973, a senior government officer has to file a report through which anyone could be tried for violating the Constitution, so in a sense this punishment is defective,” Awan said while addressing a Council of Islamic Ideology seminar. Awan said there was a (false) general impression that anyone who abrogated the Constitution was liable to be tried under Article 6 of the Constitution. Awan said that only parliament could practice Ijtihad on important national issues, under Article 227 of the Constitution. If all groups and parties were to practice Ijtihad, this would cause severe complications, he added.