Execution of the Punishment of Whipping Ordinance, 1979

This 1979 Ordinance does not itself create the punishment of whipping — it sets out the procedural safeguards that must be followed whenever whipping is imposed as a sentence under some other law (such as the Hudood Ordinances enacted around the same period). It was issued during the martial law period following the 1977 proclamation.

Section 4 specifies the whip itself: it must be a single piece, preferably leather, cane or a tree branch, with no knob or joint, and cannot exceed 1.22 metres in length or 1.25 centimetres in thickness.

Section 5 lays out detailed conditions meant to prevent the punishment from causing death or excessive harm. Before it begins, an authorized medical officer must examine the convict to confirm the punishment won't kill them; if the convict is old or weak, the number of stripes must be spread out with intervals; if the convict is ill, the punishment is postponed until they're certified fit; if the convict is a pregnant woman, it's postponed until two months after the birth or miscarriage; and it's postponed in extreme hot or cold weather. The punishment must be carried out in the medical officer's presence at a public place set by the Provincial Government, by an impartial, mature person who applies the whip with moderate force, without raising the arm above the head, and lifts the whip away after each stripe rather than dragging it. Stripes must be spread across the body and never applied to the head, face, stomach, chest or other delicate areas, and clothing required by Islamic injunctions must remain on the convict. Men are whipped standing, women sitting. If, partway through, the medical officer believes there's a risk of death, the punishment is paused until the convict is certified fit to continue.

Section 6 says a convict awaiting only a whipping sentence is held as if under simple imprisonment in the meantime, and if the medical officer decides they simply cannot undergo the punishment (due to age, illness or another reason), the matter goes back to the sentencing court to decide an alternative way of carrying it out. Section 7 lets the Provincial Government make further rules to implement the Ordinance.