Pakistan Supreme Court rejects plan for strict morals law News
Pakistan Supreme Court rejects plan for strict morals law

[JURIST] In a victory for Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf [Wikipedia profile], the country's Supreme Court Thursday blocked a proposal by the Islamist-controlled North-West Frontier Province [official website] to introduce a set of controversial morals laws [JURIST report] to be enforced by religious authorities. Musharraf, a strong advocate for a progressive Muslim state, asked the high court to issue an opinion [JURIST report] after the controversial Taliban-style bill was pushed through the Province's assembly last month. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry spoke for the panel of nine judges, detailing several clauses in the proposal that were unconstitutional. A law minister from the Province said the bill would be re-drafted and resubmitted to the assembly, adding, "We will not budge an inch from our objective to implement (an) Islamic system." Reuters has more. From Pakistan, the Daily Times has local coverage.