Following in the footsteps of the Senate, the National Assembly on Friday approved a bill regulating public meetings in Islamabad, ahead of PTI’s September 8 rally.
The bill, which has been seen by Dawn.com, is called the ‘Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act, 2024’.
Speaker Ayaz Sadiq allowed ruling PML-N’s MNA Danyal Chaudhry to introduce it as a private member’s bill through a supplementary agenda and then put it for a vote without referring it to a committee after suspending the rules.
The passage of the bill saw protests from the opposition as PTI’s Jamshed Dasti pointed out lack of quorum, but the speaker declared the house in order after a headcount amid desk-thumping by the treasury members.
The law, which is awaiting the assent of the president, will hand down a three-year jail term to people taking part in an unauthorised public meeting, while those committing an offence during such gatherings will be sentenced to 10 years in jail.
The government will designate Sangjani, a suburb of Islamabad, or any other venue for the meetings, after which a gazette notification will be issued, the bill said.
According to the bill, the deputy commissioner will give permission, and if permission is not granted, then an appeal can be made to the chief commissioner. A review application can be submitted to the home secretary against the decision of the chief commissioner.
Even after permission has been granted, the police can disperse the gathering at any time, the bill added.
For any meeting in Islamabad, an application must be made to the deputy commissioner at least seven days in advance, the bill stated, adding that the application should be made by the coordinator of the meeting.
The meeting’s location, time, objective, and number of participants must be stated in the application, it added.
The district magistrate will have the authority to ban the meeting. The reasons for banning the assembly shall be given in writing while the aggrieved person may appeal within fifteen days.
“Provided that if the application is not filed earlier than seven days of the intended date of the assembly, the district magistrate may decline the permission if the event coordinator fails to provide justifiable and reasonable grounds for late filing of the application,” the bill said.
Before granting permission, the district magistrate will assess the law and order situation and obtain security clearance from law enforcement agencies before allowing the meeting to take place.
The district magistrate will also not permit any meeting outside the designated area. They can also modify the permit issued based on national security risk, fear of violence, and fear of deterioration of the law and order situation.
According to the bill, the government can declare a specific area of Islamabad as a red zone or high-security zone. The district magistrate can direct the officer-in-charge of the police station to disperse the assembly.
If the meeting disrupts law and order, and does not disperse, the police have authority to disperse it by force, the bill stated.
On Thursday, the Senate passed a bill proposing up to three years imprisonment for participants of an unauthorised assembly in the federal capital.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told the house that the permission granted to the PTI to hold a rally on September 8 in Islamabad was intact “as of now”.
The rules were suspended for the immediate consideration of the bill, seeking to empower the district magistrate to regulate and ban public gatherings in Islamabad.
As soon as Senate Standing Committee on Interior Chairman Saleem Rehman introduced a report of the committee on the bill PML-N parliamentary leader Irfanul Haq Siddiqui pointed out that the Senate panel had approved the bill with an overwhelming majority of 6-1 votes.
He requested the chair to take up the bill for immediate consideration, adding that a motion to this effect was already on the agenda.
PTI leader Barrister Ali Zafar objected to the bill and said rules could only be suspended in case of inconsistency or difficulty in their application. He also said the bill was designed to prevent PTI from holding the Sept 8 rally in the federal capital.
Senator Siddiqui defended the proposed legislation, saying it had nothing to do with any rally. He pointed out that the law allowed rallies in designated areas.
