The MMA came to power in NWFP in the 2002 elections. On July 14, 2005, the Assembly of NWFP voted in a bill which would have created an Islamist "morality police". This bill, called the "Hisbah" or "Hasbah" bill, was essentially an attempt to create a "prevention of vice and promotion of virtue" department, similar to that which existed in Afghanistan under the Taliban, or the existing group in Saudi Arabia, which is enforced by the religious police or muttawa.
The Hasbah Bill in 2005 would have created this department, under the supervision of an Islamic cleric called a Mohtasib. The Mohtasib would have had powers which would have allowed his "Hisba police" to enter any government office and seize documents, to enforce people to attend prayers. Amongst a host of responsibilities, the Mohtasib would be expected to ensure all NWFP government policies conformed to Sharia law. The Mohtasib would have had the same powers as a Federal Sharia Court judge, and any "ridicule" of his position would invoke a fine or prison term.
This bill, passed by the regional assembly, needed to be signed by the NWFP governor to be passed into law. This never happened. In August 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that the Hasbah Bill was unconstitutional.
Despite failing to have the Bill becoming law, the NWFP Regional Assembly legislators slightly modified the original Hasbah Bill to present before the house. On November 13, the modified Hasbah or "accountability" Bill was passed.
President Pervez Musharraf petitioned Pakistan's Supreme Court on the subject of this bill. On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that the new Hasbah Bill should be suspended, and ordered the governor of NWFP not to sign the Bill into law at this time. The law will be reviewed by the Supreme Court in the third week of January, when the NWFP government will be expected to mount a defense of the Bill.
The information minister for the NWFP Regional Assembly, Asif Iqbal Daudzai of the MMA coalition, said: "We are really surprised. We drafted the bill in light of the Supreme Court's directives. The federal government's decision to go to the court exposes their claims that they believe in democracy."
"The provincial government has amended some sections and clauses of the Hasba Bill after the SC declared them ultra vires to the 1973 Constitution... Now we can go to the people and expose those who are blocking implementation of Islamic laws. We'll ask the people to decide who wants an Islamic system and who doesn't."
Apparently the main point of difference between this version of the bill and the one rejected in 2005 is that the Mohtasib will not be allowed to set up a "Hisba police" to enforce his rulings. However, he will be allowed to commandeer existing members of the police to enforce the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice.
According to Makhdoon Ali Khan, the Attorney General, President Musharraf filed his petition in the Supreme Court on Thursday. The Supreme Court has taken note of the question that the Bill will envisage an alternative structure of power. The panel on the Supreme Court charged to review the legal status of the Bill is led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
Within the NWFP region, if the Bill is passed it will create more employment for Muslim clerics. There will be posts created for them within the Provincial Advisory Council, and the Mohtasib will have supplementary staff in the province - District and Tehsil (borough) Mohtasibs, and members of District Advisory
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