PESHAWAR: With severe ongoing political confrontation between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and federal governments, senior police officials fear that by passing the proposed Police Act 2026 from the cabinet, the law which will replace Police Act 2017, the government wants a force that can be used for its safety and political protection against the Centre.
They told this scribe that a free and independent police department was being turned into a political force that could be forced to side with the incumbent provincial government during possible protests and crackdown.
They questioned as to why it took nine years for the government to bulldoze an Act that it itself enacted and was widely appreciated when it gave complete independence to police force, as part of reforms in the department, unlike other provinces.
“They want us to stand with them in ‘situation’,” an official said while explaining the motive of the KP government to replace Police Act 2017 with the proposed Police Act 2026.
Provincial cabinet approved Police Act 2026 on Sept 23
In 2017, the KP government passed a law aimed at making the police independent and free from political interference. The legislation was seen as a model for police reforms, allowing chief of the force full authority to run the department without pressure from politicians.
Nine years later however, the KP government wants to bring a new law and instead of repealing the 2017 law, which can lead to legal problems, a fresh proposal was tabled before the cabinet members that would replace the 2017 Act.
“It was being discussed for many months and many are well aware of the speeches made by lawmakers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. They went for it soon after political confrontation between KP and federal governments worsened,” said the official.
On Sept 23, the KP government approved the proposed law to rein in the inspector general of police and link his operational, administrative and financial decisions to the approval of provincial government or the chief minister for implementation.
“The administration of police in the province shall vest in the provincial police officer, who shall exercise such operational, financial and administrative powers subject to policy given by the police policy board and directions issued by government or the chief minister,” says the draft law.
According to the proposed law, the provincial government can initiate a case of premature transfer of the police officer over unsatisfactory performance, besides posting and transfers in the police establishment by the PPO, including that of regional and district police officers, are conditioned to the approval of the chief minister.
Senior police officials claim that this proposed law clearly curtails powers of the police chief as it shifts key powers away from the police. “If enacted, under the law, only the transfers and postings of DSPs and below will be handled by the chief of police department,” he said.
Other officials also expressed serious reservations. They said that during consultation meetings, where nobody knew that the entire law was being bulldozed, the IGP told the cabinet that Peshawar High Court had already struck down similar provisions that removed the police chief’s authority and making any change in the law could lead to contempt of court.
An official said that the meeting was alerted and clearly told that the incumbent government itself could face repercussions of the law once it left the treasury benches.
Another senior official said that cropping powers of the police chief could lead to serious issues as there was already a shortage of PSPs in the province.
He warned that many officers would leave the province.
“There are fewer PSPs and after this law is enacted, I along with many others will never stay here. We will move to other provinces but will never work under the proposed law,” another police official told Dawn.
Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2026
