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Pakistan president denies signing amended laws used against Imran, ex-minister

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s ongoing constitutional crisis has taken a fresh twist as President Arif Alvi asserted on Sunday that he had not signed the bills amending the Official Secrets Act and the Pakistan Army Act into law. This revelation emerged just a day after Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and former foreign minister, was arrested in Islamabad in connection with the cipher leak case under the Official Secrets Act.
Using the social media platform X, President Alvi refuted his involvement in approving the two laws. He posted: “As God is my witness, I did not sign the Official Secrets Amendment Bill, 2023, and Pakistan Army Amendment Bill, 2023, as I disagreed with these laws.”
Alvi disclosed that he instructed his staff to return the bills unsigned within the given timeframe to render them “ineffective”.
Despite seeking confirmation multiple times from his staff about the bills’ return, Alvi claimed to have discovered that his directives were not followed, expressing his hope that Allah would forgive him for this situation. He also sought forgiveness from those who would be impacted by this. As of now, the President’s office has not issued an official statement on the matter.
Responding to Alvi’s post, the law ministry expressed “grave concern”, asserting that the President should be accountable for his actions. An official statement from the ministry outlined the legal options available to the President when a bill is presented for assent.
These options are either to give assent or to refer the matter to parliament with specific observations. The ministry emphasised that there is no provision for a third option, and accused the President of deliberately delaying giving assent.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had initiated an inquiry into the alleged disappearance of a diplomatic cipher, leading to the registration of a case on August 15 against former PM Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Qureshi under the recently enacted Official Secrets Act. This action was taken after an American news outlet published earlier this month that a diplomatic cable has gone missing from Khan’s possession.
Both bills had received approval from the Senate and National Assembly before being sent to the President for his endorsement, despite opposition lawmakers’ criticism. The amendments to the Official Secrets Act introduced a new offence related to unauthorised disclosure of intelligence agency members’ identities, informants, or sources. The penalty for this offence is up to three years in jail and a fine of up to Pakistani Rs 10 million.
Modifications to the Army law introduced penalties of up to five years of rigorous imprisonment for anyone found guilty of disclosing information detrimental to Pakistan’s security or the armed forces. Other amendments empowered the Army chief and prohibited ex-servicemen from engaging in politics or activities conflicting with the military’s interests.
The amendments also introduced penalties for defaming the Army and forbade people subject to the Army act from participating in political activities for two years following their service-related departure.



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