• President approves ordinance seeking up to Rs2m penalty for damaging infrastructure
• Organisers also to face action
• 441 cameras were damaged during PTI protest in 2024, officials say

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Zardari on Saturday approved an ordinance to protect Safe City cameras and surveillance systems in the federal capital from damage and ensure compensation for the repair and replacement of the gadgets and equipment.

According to an official announcement, President Zardari has approved the Islamabad Capital Territory Safe City Camera and Surveillance Infrastructure Protection and Damage Compensation Ordinance 2026 on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Under the ordinance, financial penalties may be imposed for damaging Safe City cameras and surveillance infrastructure, as well as for inciting or encouraging such damage.

In case of damage, a fine of up to Rs2 million may be imposed for each camera or piece of infrastructure. If the damage occurs during a public meeting, procession, sit-in, protest, strike or gathering, the organisers may also be held responsible, the Presidency added.

The amount of the fine and the cost of the damage will be determined by an authorised officer after providing the person concerned with an opportunity to be heard.

It further said the person concerned would have the right to appeal against the determination of the fine or cost of the damage before the District and Sessions Judge, Islamabad, within 30 days.

In case of non-payment of the prescribed fine or compensation, the amount may be recovered as arrears of land revenue. The amount recovered in the form of fines and compensation will be spent on the repair and replacement of Safe City cameras and surveillance infrastructure, it added.

Interestingly, the Presidency did not provide the copy of the text of the ordinance.

The ordinance will remain enforced for a period of 120 days.

The move to protect the infrastructure of the capital has come a day after the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) deferred its planned protest to Islamabad until October 4 for the release of its founder and former prime minister Imran Khan, who is currently incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail.

During the 2024 protest by the PTI, the protesters had damaged 441 cameras of Safe City Authority, according to the officials.

The government is reportedly paying Rs46.5 million per day to the owners of 1,550 containers arranged to counter the PTI’s planned long march to the capital. The amount requested by the capital police for security arrangements would now effectively double and was likely to cost the exchequer more than Rs1 billion after the PTI’s decision to postpone the protest rally for about a week.

Earlier, PTI had announced a countrywide protest starting on September 27.

Following the announcement, the capital police, like their counterparts in Punjab, began preparations and requested Rs820 million to cover the rent of containers, accommodation and meals for the police personnel arriving from Punjab and Sindh.

The police had also requested a contingent of 16,000 personnel from the Punjab Police and 2,000 from the Sindh Police.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2026