NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani on Wednesday signed the draft of Nizam-e-Adl (Shariat) Regulation 2009, for forwarding it to the president for a final approval, official sources told Daily Times. The sources, however, did not confirm if the draft had been sent to the president. Prob'ly President Ten Percent will put off signing it as long as he can, but odds are 100 percent he will sign.
NWFP Law Minister Arshad Abdullah said the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 2009, was expected to be implemented in Malakand division and Kohistan district by March 15, and would have a retrospective effect from February 16, 2009. The minister said President Asif Ali Zardari had verbally agreed with the NWFP government to sign the draft as soon as he received it.
"But, really, it's not here yet. It may be lost in the mail..."
He said that the government had begun a two-day workshop in Swat for training area qazis and district qazis in accordance with the new law. He said 23 qazis were participating, who would be trained by scholars from the International Islamic University. The Nizam-e-Adl regulation will repeal the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Ordinance 2001, the law through which the executive magistracy was abolished across the country on August 14, 2001, and will revive the former system including the offices of district magistrate, additional district magistrate, sub-divisional magistrate and other executive magistrates.