The Senate on Sunday passed a watered-down Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill, 2023 after it faced stiff opposition from government and opposition lawmakers alike over clauses allowing intelligence agencies to conduct raids, or arrest anyone at any time without requiring warrants and on the mere suspicion of offenses.
Last week, the Senate had rejected the tabled legislation, with the government referring the matter to the relevant standing committee for further deliberations before tabling it once again over the weekend. The committee, during its discussions, removed the clause giving intelligence agencies the power to arrest suspects or conduct raids without warrants. Additionally, the bill has altered a clause that had earlier regarded any person as having been in communication with an “enemy” if they merely visited the address of a “foreign agent” or associated with them. The amended clause has inserted the word “knowingly” before “visited” for the establishment of a cognizable offense.
Tabling the amended legislation, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar noted the bill empowered the Federal Investigation Agency to conduct investigations into individuals suspected of violating the Official Secrets Act. However, despite its passage, the bill still attracted criticism from both government and opposition lawmakers, who lamented the wide-ranging powers it grants intelligence agencies.
“The spirit of the bill remains intact despite superficial amendments. Entire Pakistan will turn into a cantonment if the bill is passed as it is,” Jamaat-e-Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmad said while opposing the legislation. He warned that expanding powers of intelligence agencies would hamper human rights, political liberties and media freedom. “It would be nothing short of a legal martial law,” he claimed.
Similarly, JUIF Senator Kamran Murtaza—a ruling coalition partner—said if the legislation were so “essential,” the government should have tabled it at the start of its tenure rather than rushing it through at its end. PPP Senator Rukhsana Zuberi, meanwhile, said legal action should also be initiated against investigation agencies and their officials if they filed dubious cases under this law.
Census discussions
The digital census approved by the Council of Common Interests (CCI) a day earlier also came under discussions in the Senate, with Murtaza rejecting it by claiming it had “reduced” Balochistan’s population compared to the numbers leaked earlier this year. He also questioned how caretaker chief ministers of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa could have a say in approving it.
PPP Senator Raza Rabbani, likewise, warned any attempt to delay general elections would prove disastrous for the federation. “If elections go beyond the 60 or 90 days’ constitutional timeline, then it would be a violation of the Constitution,” he said, adding that the ECP must clarify how much time it needs for delimitation. “They [ECP] must try their utmost to do the needful within 90 days so that polls are conducted on time,” he said.
Responding to the criticisms, law minister Tarrar clarified that the JUIF was represented in the CCI meeting. “The census team gave a briefing for two hours, after which the decision to approve the census was taken unanimously,” he said, while noting that Murtaza’s criticism was unfounded as the country’s highest rate of population growth was recorded in Balochistan at 3.2%.
However, he agreed with Rabbani in that the ECP should make its position clear with respect to seat distribution in the National Assembly and the timeline for general elections. “All parties in the allied government have resolved to hold the elections as early as possible,” he added.