The Official Secrets Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023, passed by the National Assembly a day earlier, saw stiff rejection from government and opposition senators alike on Wednesday, resulting in it being referred to the relevant standing committee for further consideration.
The controversial bill—lambasted by rights activists since it came to light with an abrupt passage by the Lower House—seeks to empower intelligence agencies to raid any location and detain any citizen at “any time” on the mere suspicion of law violations. It also expands the definition of “enemy” and even seeks penalties for “unintentional” legal violations, while also making any material collected during an investigation admissible evidence.
Presented by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, the bill immediately drew condemnations from senators of all parties, including the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the ruling coalition’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl), and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)’s Raza Rabbani and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz)’s Afnanullah Khan. The members demanded Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani reject the bill immediately, but he opted to refer it to the relevant standing committee, leaving the option for it to be revisited at a later stage.
Ahead of the tabling of the bill, senators took the floor to criticize the government’s attempt to “bulldoze” legislation through Parliament without debate in its last days in power. Jamaat-e-Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmed said the “floodgate” of legislations over the past week had left Parliament a “joke” that was violating its own rules and regulations.
Referring to various bills, such as the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Sciences and Technology, Islamabad (Amendment) Bill, 2023, HEC Amendment Bill, 2023 and Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill, 2023, he said they could have far-reaching consequences on the country. “The government, with few days left in its tenure, should not take up these bills,” he advised, noting that the situation was worsened because the National Assembly lacked a viable opposition.
PPP Senate Rabbani, meanwhile, lamented that he was being pushed to “blindly” accept laws approved by the federal cabinet. “My right as an individual member to move an amendment against a law according to my conscience and my dictate is being taken away from me for the last 10 days,” he claimed, while dramatically ripping up a copy of the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Sciences and Technology, Islamabad (Amendment) Bill to mark his protest.
“Don’t take away this right [to deliberate and amend]. You are doing this today. Tomorrow, when your government will end and you will return to these backbenches, what legacy will you bring?” he questioned, stressing this was setting a bad precedent. “The matter here is not as much of the basic principle of amendments as much as it is of the basic principle of the right of an individual parliamentarian,” he said.
JUIF Senator Kamran Murtaza also slammed the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Sciences and Technology, Islamabad (Amendment) Bill, saying it was incorrect to assume ruling coalition partners could not reject legislations tabled by the government. He also alleged the parliamentary leader of his party in the NA had said he was neither consulted, nor informed of the bills that have swept through the Lower House in recent days.
Subsequently, both the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Sciences and Technology, Islamabad (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and HEC Amendment Bill, 2023 were referred to the relevant standing committees.
Resurgent terrorism
In his address to the Upper House, Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar said the issue of resurgent terrorism required introspection. Questioning who had allowed terrorists to resettle in Pakistan, he urged the Senate chairman to arrange an in-camera briefing from the Interior Ministry so a comprehensive and effective plan could be chalked out to fight terrorism.
PPP Senator Yousaf Raza Gilani likewise said the National Security Committee should brief the House over the prevailing security situation, stressing joint efforts were needed to eradicate terrorism.
HRCP condemnations
In a statement, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan strongly opposed the recent trend of hastily passed legislations, noting they had not undergone “critical deliberation even at the parliamentary level, much less public debate.” Referring to the Official Secrets Act amendment bill as “draconian,” it noted that is gave intelligence agencies “sweeping powers to enter and search any person or place without a warrant if they suspect an offense has been committed under the act.”
This, it stressed, violated people’s right to privacy under Article 14 of the Constitution. The legislation, it warned, could be used to “indiscriminately charge people who have no intent of committing an offense under the act.” It further noted that an attempt to criminalize any abetment of the commission of an offense under the act could broaden the scope for targeting dissidents and political rivals in the future.
The independent rights body also criticized the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Act, 2023—passed by both the NA and Senate—noting it had “criminalized defamation of the armed forces, including online.” This, it said, violated the right to freedom of expression of retired military personnel under Article 19, as well as their right to participate in public life under Article 17.
“Additionally, the bill sanctions the armed forces’ engagement in ‘national development and advancement of national or strategic interest’,” it said, slamming the attempt to seek legislative cover for military involvement in “areas to which it has no moral or political claim.”
Referring to the contempt of Parliament bill, the HRCP supported the concept of parliamentary supremacy, but warned the law was “ambiguous and over-broad,” raising concerns over its aims. Noting the law violated the people’s constitutional right to freedom of expression under Article 19, it said it would make it harder to hold elected representatives accountable. The law, it said, also violated the trichotomy of powers by granting judicial powers to the legislature.
On the Personal Data Protection Bill and E-Safety Bill, the HRCP backed reservations of digital rights activists, noting it did not meet international standards of data privacy and would serve to curtail rather than protect digital rights. “The government would do well to remember that its legitimacy and authority spring from the quality of its governance and its ability to respect, protect and fulfil citizens’ fundamental rights.” It emphasized.