ISLAMABAD   -  The Senate on Thursday passed a controversial bill, empowering the government to regulate and ban public assemblies in Islamabad, amidst fears of the opposition PTI that the proposed law is aimed at obstructing its upcoming planned rally in the federal capital.

The private member “Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Bill 2024” now needs endorsement of the National Assembly to become a law.

The draft law proposes a jail sentence of up to three years for participants of any ‘unlawful’ assembly, which has not been allowed by the government, in the federal capital. Any second time or repeat offender, earlier convicted for three years in jail, would face imprisonment of up to 10 years.

Rules were suspended to take for immediate consideration of the bill that empowers the federal government or district magistrate to designate a specific area in the limits of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) as a red zone or high security zone, prohibiting all types of assemblies in that area. It also authorizes the government to designate any area for public rallies within Islamabad.

Soon after the Chairman Standing Committee on Interior Faisal Saleem Rehman introduced report of the committee on the bill, the parliamentary leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the house Senator Irfanul Haq Siddiqui rose in his seat to move the motion to put the bill for voting.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) parliamentary leader Senator Ali Zafar while objecting said the rules can only be suspended in cases of either inconsistency in them or if difficulties arise in their application.

He questioned the treasury to explain the difficulty that has arisen that rules have been suspended for immediate consideration of the bill without meeting the necessary timelines.

He showed his concerns and said the bill was meant to prevent the PTI from holding its September 8 rally in Islamabad.

“Why are they so worried and scared that such an effort is being made to prevent a public meeting,” he asked.

Senator Siddiqui argued that the proposed bill had had nothing to do with any rally. He explained the entire city has “turned into a cage” and even lawmakers have to face difficulties to reach the parliament house. He pointed out that there were road blockages in the city to prevent the entry of protestors and employees and labourers failed to attend their offices and go to their workplaces respectively.

“We are not going to place a ban on peaceful gatherings and just want to organise and regulate these,” he said, adding that similar laws were in place in all the four provinces.

Calling it ‘malafide and misuse of the majority’, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Syed Shibli Faraz warned that the law would be used against the treasury parties in future. He underlined that the PTI always held big rallies in Islamabad but never besieged the capital city. He said the law was “PTI-specific and rally-specific.”

PTI Senator Shibli then came down hard on Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar questioning his competency being a senior lawyer. He wondered why the law minister did not object when independent Senator Mohammad Abdul Qadir moved a private member bill in the house, the other day, seeking an increase in strength of the 17-member Supreme Court to 21 judges.

Referring to Article 74 and Article 81 of the Constitution, he said that bills involving expenditures from the Federal Consolidated Fund could only be introduced by the government. “I feel embarrassed because we were misguided,” he said, adding that the issue came into the limelight when NA deferred such a bill.

He demanded the chair to seek an explanation of how the bill was introduced in the house. He pointed out that the law minister even remained silent when a similar bill was being tabled in NA.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Saleem Mandviwalla defended the bill on judges saying that PTI lawmaker Mohsin Aziz moved a money bill on the last private member’s day and the house even allowed it – a claim that was challenged by Senator Shibli saying it was not a money bill but about bank loans.

Law Minister Tarar in his response said a money bill earlier passed by the parliament to increase the number of judges of the SC was struck down by the apex court in the past. The court’s argument was that the number of judges couldn’t be increased through a money bill, he said. He explained that the facility of moving a private member bill is for the opposition because treasury members have a privilege to get any bill moved through the government.

He cautioned that it would be a wrong tradition that a private member cannot move a bill that is linked with the government expenditures. “Don’t mix up things. The bill about an increase in the number of judges doesn’t affect Article 74 and Article 81 of the Constitution,” he said.

Talking about the peaceful assembly bill, the law minister informed the house that the permission granted to PTI for holding a rally at a designated place in Islamabad on September 8 was intact “for now”.