Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan was taken aback when an opposition member informed him that the Punjab Control of Habitual Offenders and Anti-Social Behaviour Bill, 2026 had been approved by the PA Standing Committee on Law. The speaker queried, ‘It has been laid?’
PTI’s Rana Aftab Ahmad Khan clarified that the standing committee had given its nod to the legislation. The bill proposed severe measures including freezing a person’s bank account, seizing their property, removing online presence, confiscating their phone, and placing them under electronic surveillance based on an intelligence committee’s assessment of their conduct.
The ruling PML-N could also be affected as it might not remain in power forever if the bill were to become law. The speaker expressed annoyance with the assembly secretariat and warned of strict action over the bill’s introduction without his knowledge, noting that under the Goonda Act, courts had authority to sentence a person if intelligence agencies reported their involvement in hooliganism.
Source: Original report
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