ISLAMABAD – The National Assembly has given its approval to a bill aimed at resolving the ongoing disputes related to the dates of religious events. The bill achieves this by banning private moon-sighting committees and granting exclusive authorization to the federal and district Ruet-e-Hilal committees.

Under the proposed bill, individuals found operating unauthorized moon-sighting committees will be subject to a fine of Rs500,000. Moreover, those who provide false testimony about sighting the moon may face a three-year prison sentence, a fine of Rs50,000, or both.

In addition, the bill prohibits television channels from announcing moon-sighting before the official announcement is made. Violation of this rule by any channel will result in a fine of Rs1 million, and their broadcasting license could potentially be suspended.

The bill also outlines the composition of the central Ruet-e-Hilal committee, which will consist of 16 members including a chairman, two scholars from each of the four provinces, a cleric from Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Kashmir. The committee will also include representatives from Suparco, the Meteorological Office, and the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Pakistan often witnesses controversy surrounding moon-sighting, as many religious events are determined by the lunar calendar. Various sources compete to be the first to announce the sighting of the moon, leading to clashes between the central committee and non-governmental committees and resulting in the celebration of multiple Eids in the country.

Once the Senate passes the bill, it will be enacted into law.