Parliamentary Affairs Minister Murtaza Javed Abbasi tables the Official Secrets Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in the National Assembly. Photo courtesy National Assembly of Pakistan
The National Assembly on Tuesday passed the Official Secrets Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023, granting intelligence agencies the authority to enter any place without warrant and, “if necessary by use of force” seize any documents or detain any citizen even if they are merely suspected of violating law.
Tabled by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Murtaza Javed Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) through a supplementary agenda, the bill was passed without any significant debate, despite several MNAs protesting the “bulldozing” of the legislation in haste.
According to the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the bill, the Official Secrets Act, 1923 must be amended to make it more effective in protecting official documents in light of the changing social milieu.
Under the new bill—which must still be passed by the Senate before it can become law—all intelligence agencies, including the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB), have been empowered to raid and arrest any citizen over a suspected breach of official secrets. An amendment in Section 11 allows intelligence agencies to “at any time, enter and search any person or place, without warrant, and if necessary, by use of force, and seize any document, sketch, or like nature, or anything which is or can be evidence of an offense committed or suspecting of been committed, under this act.”
The bill has also declared disclosing the name of a secret agent an offense, with an amendment in Section 6 proposing a prison term of three years for culprits. It has also amended clauses relating to prohibited areas, declaring it an offense to “access, intrude, approach or attack any military installation, office, camp office or part of building.” This includes any such activity during peacetime, while earlier it had been restricted to a state of war only.
The legislation has also expanded the definition of “enemy,” declaring it applicable on any person who directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, works for any foreign or non-state actor of group in a manner prejudicial to the safety and interest of Pakistan. Those who commit such an offense face imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to Rs. 1 million, or both.
Another proposed amendment states that entering, attacking, destroying or undermining any prohibited place; making sketches, plans, or models useful to an enemy; obtaining, recording or publishing any official secret code or password that can prove useful to an enemy; gaining unauthorized access to information from within or outside of Pakistan with or without use of electronic or modem devices; accessing prohibited places through drones; or disclosing information related to capability of forces are all offenses attracting punishment.
It has similarly termed any visit to the address of a foreign agent within or outside Pakistan an offense.
FIA role
Under the bill, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and officials of intelligence agencies can investigate suspects for violation of the Official Secrets Act. It states that the FIA director-general must designate an officer for this purpose, adding a joint investigation team could also be convened with the inclusion of officers of intelligence agencies. Any such JIT must complete the investigation in 30 working days and submit a challan to a special court through the public prosecutor.
The law also proposes that any material collected during the course of inquiry or investigation, including electronic devices, data, information, documents, or such other related material, which facilitates the commission of any offense under this act, shall be admissible.
Other bills
The Lower House also passed the Toshakhana (Management and Regulation) Bill, 2023 and the Pakistan Airports Authority Bill, 2023. Both bills have already been approved by the Senate and will now proceed to the president for final approval before becoming law. The Toshakhana bill aims to ensure all gifts received by state officials are disposed of through an open auction.
Additionally, the Promotion and Protection of Gandhara Culture Authority Bill, 2023; the Margalla International University Bill, 2023 and the Thar International Institute Bill, 2023 were also passed by the National Assembly.