Punjab plans legal framework for intel bodies

LAHORE: For the first time in Punjab’s history, the provincial government has initiated the drafting of the Punjab Public Safety Act 2025 to provide a formal legal framework for the provincial and district intelligence committees.

Previously, these committees — vested with critical decision-making powers on terrorism, law and order, and security matters — operated solely under the executive orders with out any statutory backing.

A Law Reforms Committee — formed by the Punjab Home Department and headed by DIG Police Kamran Adil — is currently working on the proposed amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), Anti-Terrorism Act, and Qanoon-e-Shahadat (Law of Evidence) to formally establish the legal authority of these intelligence bodies.

Under the proposed law, the district coordination committees will be granted powers to take action against individuals involved in terrorism, subversive activities, anti-state propaganda, and those declared as absconders. The committees will be legally empowered to place names on the Exit Control List (ECL), block passports, freeze and auction off assets, and detain suspects under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) ordinance.

Punjab Home Secretary Noor-ul-Amin Mengal confirmed that in line with the revised National Action Plan and federal policy, the government was moving forward with legislation that authorized the district coordination bodies to take legal and administrative action against the anti-state elements. He emphasized that the upcoming law will ensure that the Anti-Terrorism Act was only invoked in cases involving truly relevant and grave offenses, thus safeguarding civil liberties and preventing arbitrary misuse of anti-terrorism provisions.