Anti-Social Behaviour Bill: Punjab govt’s proposed law seeks to weaken civil liberties: PTI

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday strongly opposed the Punjab government’s proposed Punjab Control of Habitual Offenders and Anti-Social Behaviour Bill, 2026, alleging that it granted sweeping administrative powers that undermined constitutional safeguards and could be used for political victimization.

The proposed legislation, introduced by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led provincial government, has been cleared by the Punjab Assembly’s Standing Committee on Home Affairs and is expected to be taken up by the provincial assembly.

In a statement, PTI spokesman Sheikh WaqasAkram alleged that the proposed legislation violated constitutional guarantees of due process, the presumption of innocence, freedom of expression, security of person and property rights by allowing punitive administrative action before the conclusion of judicial proceedings.

He claimed that empowering administrative bodies to impose sanctions on the basis of intelligence assessments rather than court convictions could expose citizens to arbitrary action and create scope for selective enforcement against political opponents, journalists, activists and other critics.

He also argued that the proposed legislation “echoed colonial-era habitual offenders laws” by permitting extensive surveillance and restrictions through administrative mechanisms rather than judicial oversight.

According to the draft Bill, individuals declared habitual offenders could face imprisonment ranging from three to five years for a first conviction, while repeat offenders may be sentenced to up to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined up to Rs2 million.

The bill empowers District Intelligence Committees to recommend that individuals be designated habitual offenders and authorizes a range of administrative measures, including the freezing of bank accounts, attachment of movable and immovable property, blocking or impounding of Computerized National Identity Cards (CNICs) and passports, placement on no-fly category and provisional national identification lists, confiscation of digital devices, deletion of social media accounts and the imposition of electronic surveillance.

The proposed law covers 23 categories of anti-social behaviour, including organized crime, drug trafficking, extortion and cyber offences such as cyberbullying, stalking, secret filming and online blackmail. It also includes offences such as the use of abusive language in public, causing annoyance in public places, dissemination of misinformation on social media and animal cruelty. The Bill further authorizes the committees to notify additional activities as anti-social behaviour.

While the Punjab government has said the proposed law seeks to modernize legal provisions for tackling organized crime, extortion, hooliganism and cyber offences by replacing the Habitual Offenders (Control and Reform) Ordinance, 1959, the PTI maintained that “the Bill expanded executive authority at the expense of constitutional protections”.

The opposition PTI rejected the proposed legislation and urged members of the legal fraternity, civil society organizations, human rights defenders, journalists and the public to oppose its passage.

It said public safety could be strengthened through effective policing, speedy trials and judicial accountability rather than conferring what it termed extraordinary administrative powers on executive authorities.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026