NA passes Official Secrets Amendment Bill, 2023

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday passed the Official Secrets Amendment Bill 2023, in order to ‘ensure safety and security of official documents’, ARY News reported.  

Moved by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi, the House passed a motion to suspend the rules for immediate consideration of the Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill, 2023. The House passed the bill after the Chair directed to circulate the copies of the bill among the lawmakers.

According to the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the bill – a copy of which is available with ARY News, it is imperative to amend the official Secrets Act 1923 and make it more effective in view of the changing social milieu to ensure safety and security of official documents.

Section 3 of the bill stated that a person shall commit an offence if he intentionally for any purpose “approaches, inspects, passes over or is in the vicinity of, or enters, attacks, destroys or otherwise undermines any prohibited place”

“The person shall commit an offence if he intentionally for any purpose makes any sketch, plan, model, or note which is calculated to be or might be or is intended to be, directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy,” it added.

It further stated that a person shall commit an offence if he obtains, collects, records or publishes or communicates to any other person any secret official code or password, or any electronic or modem device, sketch, plan which is calculated to be or might be useful to an enemy of the State.

Meanwhile, amendment of Section 9 stated that any person who incites to commit, conspires to commit, attempts to commit, shall be liable to punishment of imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine which may extend to one million, or both.

Under the bill, the investigating officer will be from Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and the said officer will be appointed by DG FIA, and a joint investigation team can also be formed if necessary.

The amendment bill also granted intelligence agencies powers to conduct warrantless searches ‘anywhere and anytime’.