The Punjab government has prepared draft legislation to criminalise cyberbullying, online blackmail, digital extortion, and the covert recording of private moments, addressing a category of offences that existing law has been unable to adequately cover as digital crime has accelerated well beyond the scope of statutes written for a different era.
The proposed Punjab Control of Habitual Offenders and Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2026 is intended to replace the Control of Goondas Act, a 66-year-old piece of legislation that officials have acknowledged is inadequate for contemporary forms of criminal behaviour. The draft also brings stalking, the creation of fear or public disorder within communities, and intimidation within the scope of criminal liability, reflecting a broader effort to build a legal framework that addresses how harassment and criminal conduct have migrated into digital and semi-digital spaces that older statutes were never designed to regulate.
The proposed law would establish district-level mechanisms to deal with habitual offenders and those engaged in anti-social activities. District Intelligence Committees would be empowered to recommend that an individual be declared a habitual offender, a designation that could trigger a range of significant administrative consequences including placement on a no-fly list, passport blocking or confiscation, bank account freezing, cancellation of weapons licences, and enhanced monitoring. Provisions for property attachment or confiscation are also included in the draft, though these would be subject to judicial oversight to ensure they do not operate as unchecked administrative penalties.
To guard against misuse, the bill incorporates procedural safeguards including the right to legal defence and the right to appeal against any designation or administrative action taken under the legislation. An appellate tribunal comprising a retired district judge and other members has been proposed to hear such appeals, providing an independent review mechanism outside the administrative chain. The draft further seeks to define the respective roles of peace committees, intelligence committees, and police reports in the enforcement process, clarifying how different institutions interact within the proposed framework. The legislation reflects a growing recognition within Pakistani provincial governments that the legal tools available to deal with digital harassment and organised anti-social behaviour require fundamental modernisation rather than incremental amendments to laws that predate the internet era entirely.
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