KP govt enacts law granting lawmakers lifetime official passports, expanding privileges

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Tuesday enacted a law expanding provincial assembly members’ powers and immunities, including the issuance of lifetime official passports to them and their spouses.

The KP Assembly passed the KP Provincial Assembly (Powers, Immunities and Privileges) Act, 2026, on April 30. On the same day, it also passed two other laws: the KP Province Speaker and Deputy Speaker (Powers, Immunities and Privileges) Act, 2026, and the KP Province (Salaries and Allowances of Members) Act, 2026. KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi assented to the laws on May 6.

However, the three laws have remained under wraps since the governor’s assent. The Acts and the gazette notifications have yet to be uploaded to the KP Assembly website.

Through the KP Provincial Assembly (Powers, Immunities and Privileges) Act, 2026, the government has repealed the 1988 law on the same subject. Although most provisions of the repealed law have been retained in the new legislation, certain changes have been made to expand the privileges of assembly members.

Section 8(1) of the aforesaid law provides that a member, for the purpose of discharging his official functions, can summon a meeting within his constituency or concerned district, at such public place as he may specify, whereas Section 8(2) makes it binding on government officers to attend this meeting.

“Every government officer of the district concerned shall be bound to attend the meeting summoned under section 1, provided that the officer has been duly informed,” reads the Section 8(2).

Section 8(3) provides that any government officer who, without sufficient cause, fails to attend a meeting summoned under Sub-Section 1 shall be deemed to have committed a breach of privilege.

Under Section 10 of the legislation, members have been granted blanket immunity from preventive detention.

The 1988 law provided that members could not be preventively detained during the period commencing 14 days before the start of an assembly session and ending 14 days after its conclusion. It also barred preventive detention during the period commencing seven days before the meeting of a committee of which the member was a part and ending seven days after the meeting concluded.

“Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, no member shall be detained under any law relating to preventive detention,” reads Section 10 of the recently passed law.

In addition, under Section 11, authorities will now have to seek the speaker’s prior permission before arresting a member on a criminal charge or for a criminal offence.

“When a member has to be arrested on a criminal charge or for a criminal offence or has to be detained under an executive order, as the case may be, shall seek prior permission of the speaker, indicating the reasons for the arrest or detention of the member in the appropriate form set out in the Second Schedule,” states Section 11(1).

Section 11(2) provides that if the speaker deems it necessary in the public interest, he may require the relevant police officer to submit a police report or challan, as the case may be, to ascertain the facts of the matter. It further provides that the speaker may, at his discretion, order such an inquiry before the challan is submitted to the court.

Under Section 12(1), members will be entitled to Category-B security, as may be notified by the Home and Tribal Affairs Department, for the duration of their tenure as members of the assembly.

Additionally, under Section 12(2), in the event of a credible threat, a member’s security may be upgraded to Category A based on a threat assessment report and the nature and severity of the threat, as determined by the competent police authority.

Similarly, Section 12(3) provides that a member provided with security personnel shall be entitled to retain such security throughout Pakistan, including Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Under Section 14, which deals with additional privileges, MPAs will be entitled to licences for eight non-prohibited-bore weapons, including four free licences and four issued on payment of a notified fee.

Under the repealed law, they were entitled to four free lifetime licences for weapons.

In addition, five new privileges have been included in the same section for MPAs, including the issuance of assembly identity cards to the spouses of members, which shall be duly recognised and accorded due respect by all law enforcement agencies.

Similarly, MPAs will also be entitled to use VIP lounges at all airports in the country. Moreover, subject to applicable federal law, the MPA and their spouse will also be entitled to official passports.

The law also provides that club memberships will be available to MPAs on the same terms and at the rates applicable to government officers. Besides, the lawmakers will also have the facility of a personally used vehicle with tinted or darkened screens.

Meanwhile, fines and prison terms for offences under this law have also been increased. ...