Three years in jail for attending unauthorised rally in capital

ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Thursday passed the Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Bill 2024, seeking to empower the district magistrate to regulate and ban public gatherings in the federal capital. The bill proposes jail sentence of up to three years for participants of an unauthorised assembly in Islamabad. The bill was passed as the opposition protested and alleged the government was afraid of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s rally fixed for September 8, seeing it as a bid to impede it.

However, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar explained that the permission granted to the PTI to hold a rally was intact as of now and it had nothing to do with that but to ensure public is not disturbed and political activity takes place at a designated place. However, Leader of the Opposition Syed Shibli Faraz called the move as ‘malafide and misuse of the majority’ and warned that the law would be used against the treasury in future.