President Alvi says he did not assent to 

In a startling turn of events, President Arif Alvi on Sunday denied approving changes to the Official Secrets Act and the Pakistan Army Act while the law ministry, functioning under a caretaker setup, rebuked his statement and asked him to “take responsibility for his own actions”.

In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) around 2pm, Alvi said: “As God is my witness, I did not sign Official Secrets Amendment Bill, 2023 and Pakistan Army Amendment Bill, 2023 as I disagreed with these laws.”

The president said he asked his staff to return the bills unsigned within the stipulated time to make them “uneffective”.

“I confirmed from them many times that whether they have been returned and was assured that they were. However, I have found out today that my staff undermined my will and command. As Allah knows all, He will forgive Insha’Allah. But I ask forgiveness from those who will be affected,” the president said.

 

Army act, secrets law changes get president’s nod

Both the bills were approved by the Senate and National Assembly and sent to the president for his approval amid criticism by opposition lawmakers a few weeks ago.

Section 6-A of the secrets act creates a new offence of unauthorised disclosure of the identities of members of intelligence agencies, informants or sources. The offence would be punishable by up to three years in jail and a fine of up to Rs10 million.

The Army Act paves the way for the punishment of up to five-year rigorous imprisonment to any person guilty of disclosing any information, acquired in an official capacity that is or may be prejudicial to the security and interest of Pakistan or the armed forces.