Official Secrets Act, 1923

The Official Secrets Act, 1923 is Pakistan's core espionage and state-secrecy law, criminalising the unauthorised handling of sensitive government, defence, and military information. Section 2 defines key terms broadly -- "document" was expanded by a 2023 amendment to cover written, electronic, digital, and virtual material, and "intelligence agency" now explicitly names the Directorate General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Intelligence Bureau. A "prohibited place" (Section 2(8)) covers a wide range of sites: defence works, arsenals, military and air force establishments, wireless/signal stations, factories making munitions, and -- after the 2023 amendment -- "strategic infrastructure" and modern communication facilities, as well as places the government formally notifies as prohibited because information about them would help an enemy.

Section 3A restricts photographing or sketching prohibited or notified areas. Section 5 criminalises wrongful communication of information, and Section 6 covers unauthorised use of uniforms, forged reports, and false documents; Section 6A deals with unauthorised disclosure of identities, such as of intelligence personnel. Section 7 makes it an offence to interfere with police officers or members of Pakistan's armed forces, and Section 8 imposes a duty to report knowledge of offences under the Act.

Enforcement provisions include Section 9 (attempts and incitement), Section 10 (penalty for harbouring spies), Section 11 (search warrants), Section 12 (power to arrest), and Section 12A (investigation procedures). Section 13 allows offences under specified sections to be tried using the special procedure set out in the Enemy Agents Ordinance, 1943 or the Pakistan Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1958, rather than ordinary criminal procedure. Section 14 lets a court exclude the public from all or part of a trial if publicity would be prejudicial to state safety, though sentencing must still happen in public. Section 15 extends liability to company directors and officers who knowingly allow an offence to be committed by their company.

This is a very old law (1923) that has recently been substantially expanded and modernised by the Official Secrets (Amendment) Act, 2023, which broadened the definitions of "document," "munitions of war," and "prohibited place," and added the rule-making power in Section 16. Given how significantly this Act was amended in 2023, and that the extract available here does not include the full, current text of Section 3 (the core "offence" provision), readers needing precise details of what conduct is criminalised, and the applicable penalties, should check the current official text directly.