Senate approves ‘three years in jail’ for unauthorised rallies in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Interior on Tuesday approved a bill related to the unauthorized protests and rallies within the federal capital.

According to the bill, titled “Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Bill 2024”, a rally can only be held in authorized locations such as Sanganjani or any other area of ​​Islamabad.

Any protest or rally held without government permission can result in participants being jailed for up to three years or/and an unspecified fine to the members of an ‘unlawful assembly’.

A bill also sought to empower district magistrate to regulate and ban public assemblies in the federal capital, which was rejected outright by the opposition as the PTI-specific.

The proposed law, moved in Senate on Monday, seeks to empower the government to designate a specific area of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) as a red zone or high-security zone, thereby prohibiting all types of assemblies in that area.

Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, who presented the bill, said that the bill’s purpose was to provide a legal framework for holding protests, reducing the likelihood of confrontations between the judiciary and administration.

Senate Standing Committee on Interior held a meeting in the Parliament House under the chairmanship of Senator Faisal Saleem Rehman approved the proposed bill.

Senator Irfan Siddiqui, while discussing the bill, emphasized that this bill is limited to Islamabad and aims to make protests in Islamabad legal. “Even today, containers are still in Islamabad and people are worried. A specific place should be allocated where protests can be held to avoid the frequent roadblocks caused by rallies,” he said.

However, Senator Saifullah Abro opposed the bill, adding that existing laws should be reviewed before introducing new legislation. He raised concerns about the potential misuse of the law to suppress peaceful protests which is the right of every citizen as per the constitution.