The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday issued notices to the federal government on a petition challenging recent amendments made to the Official Secrets Act.

The outgoing government quietly got the Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill, 2023 passed by the National Assembly on August 1 in a bid to grant blanket powers to intelligence agencies, which will be able to raid and detain any citizen, even under suspicion of them breaching the law.

However, due to vociferous opposition from certain lawmakers in the Senate, the bill was sent to the relevant committee for vetting. The committee had suggested amendments to the bill and sent it back to the upper house for approval, which took place on Aug 6. The bill was subsequently passed after making some alterations to the original draft.

The most significant alteration made in bill was the removal of a clause that would have granted intelligence agencies the power to arrest suspects or conduct searches without warrants.

The move to amend the Official Secrets Act had not gone down well, with many apprehending misuse of the overarching and vague terminology that was been introduced in the 100-year-old law.

On Tuesday, a petition was filed in the LHC seeking to declare amendments made to the act “ultra vires to the Constitution”.

The plea was taken up by Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan today. During the hearing, the judge said: “Pakistan is our home, look what we have done with it.”

The court also issued notices to the federal government and other respondents in the case i.e. the Ministry of Law and Justice, the National Assembly and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The petition

The plea, filed by a resident, Muhammad Muqsit Saleem, said the government had initiated and “hurriedly passed” amendments to the Official Secrets Act.

“The arbitrary exercise of arrest powers given under the Act and passed by the outgoing Parliament has resulted in gross violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan, particularly the right to liberty, right to dignity, and right to due process of law.”

It claimed that Section 2 of the Act — which the petition said brings intelligence agencies in the position to use “excessive powers” — had “resulted in fear in the hearts of civilians as civilian areas are also added to the ambit of defence establishments which is leading to rampant abuse of authority and unjustified arrests”.

It stated that the arbitrary exercise of arrest powers violated the principle of “presumption of innocence until proven guilty”, adding that innocent citizens were being subjected to arbitrary arrests and detention, causing them mental and physical distress.

“The provisions of the act lack specificity and precision, leaving ample room for misinterpretation and misuse by intelligence agencies. The absence of clear guidelines for arrests has resulted in the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of individuals who pose no threat to public order or security,” the plea said.

These powers, the petition pointed out, were in violation of the Constitution and Pakistan’s international human rights obligations. They also “undermine the principles of democracy, rule of law and separation powers” and have a “chilling effect on the exercise of freedom of speech and expression”, it added.

The petition, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, also went on to refer to previous judgments issued by high courts and the Supreme Court.

It urged the court to direct the respondents to “stop following the unconstitutional provisions of the impugned act and take legitimate steps to ensure implementation of the Constitutional guarantees within”.

“Restrain respondents from carrying out any arrests, raids and confiscation under the impugned act without judicial oversight of this honourable court till the disposal of the petition,” the plea requested, adding that the operation of the law should be suspended until the matter was decided by the LHC.

“We believe that it is the duty of this court to uphold the Constitution and protect the rights of the citizens of Pakistan,” it concluded.