Punjab Speaker Stunned by Undisclosed Anti‑Social Conduct Bill

LAHORE: Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan said he was taken aback on Sunday after an opposition member informed him that the Punjab Control of Habitual Offenders and Anti‑Social Behaviour Bill, 2026 had already been approved by the PA Standing Committee on Law.

“Has it been laid?” he asked when PTI’s Rana Aftab Ahmad Khan clarified that the standing committee had endorsed the legislation.

The proposed law would empower the executive to freeze a person’s bank accounts, seize property, remove online presence, confiscate phones, and impose electronic surveillance solely on the basis of an intelligence committee’s assessment of conduct.

PTI MPA Rana raised the matter in the House, which was convened to discuss the province’s supplementary budget. He argued that the bill contravened human rights and warned that, if enacted, it could affect future generations. He also cautioned that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League‑Nawaz (PML‑N) could become a target of the legislation given its eventual electoral vulnerability.

The speaker expressed frustration that the assembly secretariat had introduced the bill without his knowledge and threatened that strict action would be taken against those responsible.

The bill was placed before the House on June 8.

Dawn reached out to the speaker for clarification on how the bill entered the legislature without his awareness, but there has been no immediate response.

During the session, the speaker remarked, “It is not feasible to introduce a law that resembles the colonial era… There could be some misunderstanding on this. Let me look into it.”

He further questioned whether the Deputy Commissioner (DC) and District Police Officer (DPO) would be given authority under the proposed law to act against an individual.

He noted that even under the Goonda Act, courts retained the power to sentence persons based on intelligence reports of involvement in hooliganism.

Opposition members voiced concern that the bill would likely be passed given the treasury’s overwhelming majority.

PTI MPA Ahmer Bhatti highlighted that the legislation would allow officers to report against an individual and act unilaterally without recourse to any judicial forum, raising fears of political victimisation.

The bill

The draft law states that its objective is to systematically address “public nuisance”, financial and social exploitation, and organised criminal activity.

It creates a tiered structure of intelligence committees at provincial, divisional, and district levels, tasked with enhancing public safety, protecting minorities, evaluating threats to foreigners, and monitoring misuse of social‑media platforms.

Anti‑social conduct under the bill includes operating gambling or drinking dens, illicit liquor production, managing brothels, fraudulent charity collections, hate speech or online disinformation, impersonating public servants, aerial firing, displaying weapons on social media, online blackmail, and erecting illegal traffic barriers.

District Intelligence Committees would be able to launch investigations, demand surety bonds of up to six months, and recommend penalties ranging from blocking national identity cards and passports to freezing bank accounts, erasing cyberspace presence, and confiscating electronic devices for prosecution.

For individuals formally declared habitual offenders—those repeatedly arrested for crimes such as motor‑vehicle theft, extortion, robbery, dacoity, or narcotics offences—the law establishes strict tracking protocols. Upon a police application processed through public prosecutors, a magistrate may order attachment of an electronic monitoring device for a minimum of three months. Non‑compliance can result in up to three years’ imprisonment.

Willful tampering with or destruction of the tracking device carries a mandatory minimum of one year’s imprisonment, a fine of Rs1 million, and liability for compensation of damaged technology.

Law‑enforcement agencies would maintain biometric data, fingerprints, and DNA records in a new, centralised Punjab Habitual Offenders Registry.

The legislation imposes a zero‑tolerance approach to defiance of intelligence‑committee orders. A first violation can lead to up to four years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs1.5 million; a second offence attracts a minimum of three years’ imprisonment, and a third incurs a fixed four‑year term with a Rs2 million fine.

Public servants found abetting violations are subject to criminal prosecution of up to two years’ imprisonment together with departmental disciplinary action.

All offences under the bill are cognisable and non‑bailable, to be tried directly by a section‑30 magistrate.

To safeguard individual rights and prevent administrative abuse, the bill outlines a tiered appeals process: aggrieved persons may file representations with higher divisional and provincial intelligence committees, proceed to an executive appellate committee, and ultimately appeal to an independent tribunal chaired by a retired district and sessions judge.

Once enacted, the bill will repeal colonial‑era statutes, specifically the Restriction of Habitual Offenders (Punjab) Act of 1918 and the Punjab Control of Goondas Ordinance of 1959, modernising Punjab’s legal framework to address contemporary organised crime and digital threats.

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