Punjab Assembly halts anti-terrorism bill amid opposition concerns

The Punjab Assembly has deferred proceedings on the Anti-Terrorism Amendment Bill 2026 due to objections from opposition lawmaker Rana Aftab Ahmad Khan. According to the Daily Times, Khan raised constitutional and procedural concerns about the proposed legislation, questioning the provincial assembly's authority to introduce the changes.

The bill, as reported by Dawn, proposes sweeping changes to the anti-terrorism law, including a "special security case" mechanism that could allow terrorism cases to be tried under a highly confidential regime. This would involve keeping the identities of judges, prosecutors, defence lawyers, and witnesses secret. Khan termed the bill "unconstitutional" and demanded open and fair trials in terrorism cases.

Law Minister Rana Muhammad Iqbal argued that the standing committee had discussed the bill thoroughly and that the opposition should have raised its objections there. The Speaker, Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, deferred further proceedings on the bill following Khan's objections.

Brief written by urgent.news from Daily Times, Dawn - Pakistan, Dawn, Daily Post Nigeria — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.