Prevention of Seditious Meetings Act, 1911

This 1911 law lets the government declare a "proclaimed area" and then require advance notice, or written permission, before any public meeting can be held there. Section 1 sets out that the Act only applies where a Provincial Government specifically switches it on by notification, and Section 2 lets the government declare any part of a province a "proclaimed area" for up to six months at a time (renewable). Section 3 defines a "public meeting" broadly -- even a private venue counts if the public, or some class of the public, can attend.

Once an area is proclaimed, Section 4 requires organisers to give the District Magistrate at least three days' written notice of a meeting, or get prior written permission, unless the meeting is exempted by the government or already authorised by some other law. The Magistrate can also send police or other officers to observe and report on the meeting. Section 5 goes further, letting the District Magistrate flatly prohibit a public meeting in a proclaimed area if it looks likely to promote sedition or disturb public order. Section 7 similarly bans unpermitted public speeches on risky topics in such areas, with police empowered to arrest the speaker without a warrant.

Section 6 sets the penalties: organising or taking part in a meeting held in breach of the notice/permission rule can draw up to six months' imprisonment, a fine, or both, and a meeting banned under Section 5 is automatically treated as an "unlawful assembly" under the Pakistan Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code. Unpermitted speeches under Section 7 carry the same six-month/fine penalty. Section 8 reserves trial of these offences to a Magistrate of the first class or higher.

This is a very old colonial-era law (1911), heavily amended over the decades (the extract shows repeated "Subs. by A.O." and similar amendment footnotes), and it has been extended specifically to Islamabad Capital Territory by a 1981 ordinance. Given its age and amendment history, anyone relying on it for a real situation should check the current official text and how it interacts with constitutional protections for assembly.