NA adopts ATA amendment allowing 3-month ‘preventive detention' of terror suspects
Minister of State for Interior and Narcotics Control Talal Chaudhry moved the bill further to amend the Anti-terrorism Act, 1997 [The Anti-terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2024] in the House. The House passed the bill through a clause-by-clause read.
Earlier, the House adopted the motion to consider the bill with 125 votes in its favour and 59 against it.
Anti-terror bill moved in NA: LEAs, agencies could detain suspects for 3 months
The statement of objects and reasons of the bill states that the current security situation requires a robust response that goes beyond the existing legal framework.
The erstwhile amendment of Section 11EEEE of the Act ibid, is required to be re-inserted to empower the government, armed forces, and civil armed forces with the necessary authority to detain individuals who pose a significant threat to national security.
This provision would allow for the preventative detention of suspects based on credible information or reasonable suspicion, thereby disrupting terrorist plots before they can be executed.
This will also provide law enforcement agencies with the legal backing to conduct more effective operations against terrorism.
It would facilitate the use of Joint Interrogation Teams (JITs), composed of members from various law enforcement and intelligence agencies, to conduct comprehensive inquiries and gather actionable intelligence.
The National Assembly also passed two more bills, including the National School of Public Policy (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and the Petroleum (Amendment) Bill, 2025, as reported by the Standing committees concerned.
The bills were moved by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhary and Minister for Petroleum Ali Pervaiz in the House.
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