Imran Khan moves Pak SC against amendments in Official Secrets Act and Army Act

The petition has not been fixed for hearing yet. The Pakistan Army Act 1952 and Official Secrets Act 1923 were amended last month after passing through the lower and upper houses and reportedly the President's Office. Among other clauses, the Official Secrets (Amendment) Act 2023 renders a person guilty of an offence if they intentionally create a problem of public order or act against the state.

Islamabad: Pakistan's jailed prime minister Imran Khan on Saturday moved the Supreme Court, challenging the changes made to the Official Secrets Act and the Pakistan Army Act. Khan, the 70-year-old chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and the party vice-chairman and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, 67, are charged with the violation of the Official Secrets Act in connection with the leakage of a confidential diplomatic cable from Pakistan's embassy in Washington.

The petition filed by Khan through his counsel Shohaib Shaheen contends that the amendments made in the Official Secrets Act and the Pakistan Army Act are in violation of the constitutional provisions of human rights. It draws the apex court's attention to amendments introduced in the Official Secrets Act, which empower "secret agencies to raid and detain any citizen or enter and search any person in any place without obtaining a search warrant from any court of law," terming them "unethical" and in violation of the Constitution.

The petition contends that the amendments are in violation of various articles of the Constitution, which guarantee civil liberties, including the right to liberty, dignity, free speech, fair trial and due process under the law, among other fundamental rights. The petition also asserted that the president did not sign the Army Amendment Act and Official Secrets Act, which it said were in violation of several articles of the Constitution.

The petition has not been fixed for hearing yet. The Pakistan Army Act 1952 and Official Secrets Act 1923 were amended last month after passing through the lower and upper houses and reportedly the President's Office. Among other clauses, the Official Secrets (Amendment) Act 2023 renders a person guilty of an offence if they intentionally create a problem of public order or act against the state.

They will also be liable to punitive action if they attack or damage a "prohibited place" with the aim to "directly or indirectly benefit the enemy". Those implicated will be tried in a special court and a decision will be taken after completing the hearing within 30 days, under the amended law. Meanwhile, the Army Act (Amendment) Act 2023 includes provisions related to retired military personnel, among others.

Under the amended law, no military personnel can participate in any "political activity" for up to two years after "retirement, resignation or dismissal", while military personnel or officers performing duties related to a "sensitive nature" cannot participate in political activities for "five years after termination of service".

A retired army officer found guilty of violating the Army Act 2023 may be imprisoned for a term of up to two years. On August 19, President Arif Alvi was said to have assented to both the Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill 2023 and the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill 2023, allowing the pieces of proposed legislation to become acts of parliament.

However, in a startling turn of events the next day, the president publicly claimed that he had not signed the two bills since he disagreed with them and had asked his staff to return them unsigned within the stipulated time to make them ineffective, but his staff had undermined his will.

The law ministry had rebuked the president's claim and asserted that the bills were received by the presidency on Aug 2, 2023, and Aug 8, 2023, respectively. Addressing a press conference after Alvi's claim, caretaker Law Minister Ahmed Irfan Aslam had said the government had not received any of the two bills from the presidency thereafter, and thus both had become law.

Khan has been kept in jail since August 5 after his conviction in the Toshakhana corruption case. His sentence was suspended by the Islamabad High Court on August 29, but he continues to remain in prison in the cipher case. His remand has been extended till September 13 by a special court in the case. (PTI)