Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill passed: Senior officials obliged to disclose all assets

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary body on Wednesday passed the Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which makes it mandatory for senior government officials, ranging from BPS-17 to BPS-22, to disclose their assets as well as those held by their family members.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Law and Justice, chaired by MNA Chaudhry Mahmood Bashir Virk, passed the bill after thorough deliberation. The committee, by majority vote, recommended that the bill be approved by the National Assembly without changes.

However, a group of committee members, including Changaze Ahmad Khan, Ali Muhammad Khan, Umair Khan Niazi, Aliya Kamran, Sohail Sultan, and Sardar Latif Khosa, recorded their dissent and proposed amendments to the bill.

According to the statements of objects and reasons of the bill, the proposed legislation aims at strengthening the Government Servants (Conduct) Rules, 1964—specifically Rules 12, 13, and 13-A—and align with the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017. Under the bill, civil servants in higher grades will be required to digitally file asset declarations, including domestic and foreign assets beneficially owned by themselves or their immediate family members, it says.

It says that these declarations would be publicly accessible, with safeguards to protect sensitive personal data such as ID numbers, residential addresses, and bank or bond account details. The bill proposes that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to manage the asset disclosure system, while the Establishment Division would be empowered to conduct risk-based verification using dedicated resources and tools, it says.

The parliamentary body also consider the bill, ‘The Qanun-e-Shahadat (Amendment) Bill, 2025’ moved by MNA Shazia Marri. After detailed deliberations on the contents and implications of the proposed amendments, the committee decided to defer further consideration of the Bill to the next meeting.

The committee decided to allow the Ministry of Law and Justice sufficient time to furnish a comprehensive comparative analysis of relevant legal provisions across selected commonwealth countries, with a focus on best practices and alignment with international standards.

Additionally, during the discussion, the Ministry of Law and Justice highlighted that the proposed amendments, if enacted, would be uniformly applicable to all provinces. In light of this, the committee emphasised the importance of obtaining input from all provincial governments to ensure inclusivity and to account for regional perspectives. The committee recommended that the ministry law formally seek and compile the views and comments, of all four provinces before the next meeting.

MNAs, Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon, Zara Wadood Fatemi, Kiran Haider, DrNafisa Shah, Syed Abrar Ali Shah, Syed Naveed Qamar, Syed Hafeezuddin Changaze Ahmad Khan, Ali Muhammad Khan, Umair Khan Niazi, Hassaan Sabir, Aliya Kamran, Sohail Sultan, Sardar Muhammad Latif Khan Khosa, Shazia Marri, Minister of State for Law and Justice and Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice, Special Secretary Establishment, along with staff attended the meeting.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025