'Outrageous': Punjab's proposed law reminiscent of colonial era draws criticism

Seventy-eight years after Pakistan’s independence, the Punjab government is moving to introduce a law that has been criticised as being reminiscent of colonial-era laws. The Punjab Control of Habitual Offenders and Anti-Social Behaviour Bill, 2026 has already sailed through to the Punjab Assembly Standing Committee on Law, it emerged on Sunday. The bill proposes a regime in which the executive can freeze a person’s bank account, seize their property, remove their online presence, confiscate their phone, and place them under electronic surveillance, all on the basis of an intelligence committee’s assessment of their conduct. It has drawn criticism from the opposition in the assembly, and from activists, lawyers, journalists and civil society outside the assembly. Yousuf Nazar, former head of Citigroup’s emerging markets investments and author of a book on political economy, ‘The Gathering Storm’, described the bill as “one of the most dangerous pieces of legislation proposed in Pakistan in recent years”. “It gives executive committees dominated by police and intelligence officials the power to brand citizens as ‘habitual offenders’ or ‘anti-social’ and punish them without first securing a criminal conviction,” he explained in a post on X. Nazar went on to say: “The powers are breathtaking. Bank accounts can be frozen. Property can be attached. Electronic devices can be seized. Electronic surveillance can be imposed. Travel documents can be restricted. Social media accounts and online content can be targeted. None of this requires the state to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law before these sanctions take effect.” The “danger”, he said, “lies not only in the powers themselves but in who exercises them”. “The committees are empowered to decide what constitutes ‘anti-social behaviour’. Alongside organised crime and drug offences, the bill includes vague offences such as spreading ‘misinformation’, using abusive language in public and causing annoyan