ISLAMABAD - The Senate on Friday unanimously passed a bill to establish a first-ever National Forensics Agency in the centre that will integrate digital and cyber forensics to combat crimes involving electronic devices and deep fakes.
The bill titled the National Forensics Agency Bill 2024 was tabled in the house by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar on behalf of Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
The bill will now land in the National Assembly to get the necessary approval of the lower house of the parliament before becoming a law.
The bill was passed with certain amendments. An amendment in the preamble of the bill, moved by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Quratul Ain Marri, was also adopted under which the agency will provide services to any province only “if so requested by that provincial government.”
A similar amendment was moved by other PPP lawmakers including Zamir Hussain Ghumro, Shahadat Awan, Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan and Jam Saifullah Khan. Senator Ghumro informed the house that they feared that the proposed National Forensics Agency (NFA) would interfere in provincial matters if it used to accredit or certify forensics, as powers of forensics, investigation and prosecution were with the provinces.
On this, Law Minister Senator Tarar said the amendment moved by Senator Marri had been included in the draft. He said Agency would only work for federal agencies and would provide services to provinces on their request. He underlined that Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were already getting services from the state-of-the-art forensic science agency established by then Chief Minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif in 2011. That forensic agency is overloaded and over-worked, he added, urging the need for a new agency at the federal level.
Through another amendment, the power to appoint the director general of the Agency has been given to the federal government, instead of the prime minister.
According to the statement of objectives and reasons of the bill, the National Forensics Agency (NFA) aims to enhance forensic capabilities across Pakistan. Key initiatives include upgrading existing conventional forensic labs and establishing a digital forensic lab that will provide services to all provinces, Gilgit Baltistan, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, and government or private forensics labs.
The functions and responsibilities of the proposed agency, to be headquartered in Islamabad, will include expanding its infrastructure and human resource to establish a research department, other forensics departments and a state-of-the-art digital forensics department to assist in matters of national security.
The report and opinion of the Agency shall be admissible evidence. “No action taken under this Act shall be called in question in any court or otherwise except in the manner provided in this Act”, says the bill.
The Agency will have a non-lapsable fund which will compromise grants made by the government, funds provided by the federal and provincial governments, and loans and grants from the national or international agencies received by the government to finance the functions of the facility. The provincial governments will only provide funds to it if they desire so.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar while speaking in the house said establishing an independent NFA in Pakistan was essential to address the challenges arising from the current fragmented forensic services that lead to inconsistent standards and capabilities across the country.
He said that setting up a state-of-the-art forensics laboratory would also help eradicate crimes.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker Aon Abbas Bappi speaking in the house regretted the comments from the treasury benches that the ground realities had forced his party to agree for talks.
He said PTI’s readiness for dialogue must not be misconstrued as its weakness. “We are asking for a dialogue only for the larger national interest of the country,” he said and added, “We will talk but never compromise on our dignity.”
Senator Bappi said it was disturbing when the treasury in the house said neither any bullet was fired at PTI protestors in the D-Chowk of Islamabad nor anyone injured and lost his life in the operation clean-up by law enforcement agencies on November 26. “Deaths of our 12 people are confirmed while the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has released a list of 139 people who came to D-Chowk last month but went missing,” he said, adding that it was not known if they were alive or not.
He said protest was their constitutional right and Pakistan was the only country in the world where bullets were fired at the unarmed protesters.
“Now racial profiling of the people of KP is being done in Islamabad, which is weakening the federation,” said the PTI senator.
He reiterated his party’s demand to form a judicial commission comprising senior judges of the Supreme Court to probe the incidents of November 26 in Islamabad, saying any side found guilty should have to apologize to the nation.
Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) Senator Manzoor Ahmed Kakar speaking on his turn came down hard on the PTI for its “mode of protest,” which he said was not peaceful. “Protest is the right of all political parties and no one can deny them this right,” he said, adding that the state cannot give permission to the mode of protest that the PTI had adopted on November 26.
He questioned whether the state should allow it if the opposition party attacks the capital.