Sindh to Amend the Witness Protection Act 2013 Before Framing Rules, High Court Told; Next Hearing 12 November

The Sindh government has told the Sindh High Court that it will review and amend the Sindh Witness Protection Act, 2013 before it frames rules under the law, thirteen years after the Act was passed. The statement was made at a hearing reported on 18 October 2026. The court has fixed the next hearing for 12 November 2026. Until then, the home department says its Witness Protection Unit is working and gives protection when a witness applies or a court orders it.

We read the Act itself on 19 October 2026, in the text published by the Sindh Judicial Academy, and we read the law's publication notice. The hearing is reported, because the Sindh High Court does not publish daily orders in this case on a page we could open. What follows is what the court was told, what the law already says, and what a threatened witness in Sindh can do now.

The home department says the unit, the board and the officers exist

Law Secretary Saeed Ahmed Shaikh and Additional Home Secretary Javed Ahmed Abro appeared before a two-judge constitutional bench headed by Justice Yousuf Ali Sayeed. They told the court that the machinery of the Act is in place: the Witness Protection Advisory Board, the Witness Protection Unit and the committee that assists the unit.

They also said witness protection officers have been notified in every district of Sindh, and that the unit is functional and provides protection and assistance when an application is made or a court passes an order. That is the first time, as far as the reports show, that the province has told the court the unit is actually working rather than merely notified.

What is still missing is the rulebook. Section 29 of the Act says the government "may make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act". Draft rules were sent for vetting in 2014 and circulated again in 2016, but none were ever notified. The home department now says it is consulting the law department to review the Act, propose amendments "as per international best practices", and then frame rules.

The petition has been pending since 2023 and asks for the rules

Advocate Tariq Mansoor filed the petition in 2023 against the home and law departments, the inspector general of police and the prosecutor general of Sindh. It says the government made no real effort to enforce the Act or frame rules, and that the funds for the Witness Protection Unit were never released.

The bench has asked the petitioner to address two questions at the next hearing. First, whether Section 29 obliges the government to frame rules, or only permits it. The word in the Act is "may". Second, whether any material provision of the Act is ineffective or redundant without rules. Those two questions will decide whether the court can order the rules to be made.

The Act already gives a witness real protection, rules or no rules

Section 4 of the Act lists what the Witness Protection Programme can do: let a witness take a new identity, give evidence masked or with a changed voice, testify by video link, relocate, get housing, transport, money for a livelihood, and security for a reasonable period. If a protected person is killed, the heirs get compensation and dependent children get free education. Family members get the same cover on demand.

Section 7 makes the Additional Inspector General of Police, CID Sindh, the Chief Witness Protection Officer. Section 14 gives that officer the decision on who joins the programme, after a report from a four-officer committee. Section 22 punishes anyone who leaks a protected person's information with up to twenty years in prison. None of this depends on rules being framed. The full procedure is in how to get witness protection in Sindh.

An amendment means more delay, and the court knows it

The province's new position moves the goalposts. In May 2024 the departments told the same court that draft rules had been waiting for replies since 2016. Now the Act itself is to be reviewed first, and rules will follow the amendment. No draft amendment has been published, and no date for it was given in court.

A review is not unreasonable on its face. The Act's Schedule of offences uses wording copied from another jurisdiction, and the appeal and review sections leave the "prescribed" period and manner to rules that do not exist. But a witness facing a threat today cannot wait for a redraft. The court's questions on Section 29 suggest it wants to know whether it can order the rules now, while the amendment is pending.

1. The next hearing is on 12 November 2026 before the constitutional bench headed by Justice Yousuf Ali Sayeed.
2. The petitioner must argue whether "may make rules" in Section 29 carries a duty, and which sections fail without rules.
3. The home department is expected to report on its review of the Act with the law department.
4. If the court finds a duty, it can direct a timetable for rules; if not, the amendment route stands.
5. Any amendment goes to the Provincial Assembly of Sindh, then the Governor, before it is law.

What a witness in Sindh should do while the case waits

A witness who has been threatened in a serious case in Sindh does not need to wait for the amendment. The home department told the court that the unit acts on an application or a court order. So the two routes are a written application to the Witness Protection Unit at the Home Department, Government of Sindh, addressed to the Chief Witness Protection Officer, and a request to the trial court for an order.

Tell the investigating officer and the prosecutor about the threat in writing, and keep a copy. If the police will not act, the route for getting an FIR registered in Sindh when police refuse applies to a threat as to any other offence. And know your rights before you give a statement: the rules on being questioned by police as a witness apply in every province.

Common questions

What did the Sindh government tell the court?

That the advisory board, the unit, the committee and district witness protection officers exist and the unit is working, and that it will amend the Act before framing rules. This was reported on 18 October 2026.

When is the next hearing?

12 November 2026, before a two-judge constitutional bench of the Sindh High Court headed by Justice Yousuf Ali Sayeed, as reported.

Does the Act work without rules?

The core protections in Sections 4, 14, 15 and 22 are written into the Act. Only the "prescribed" period and manner for a review under Section 19 depend on rules.

Who runs witness protection in Sindh?

Section 7 names the Additional Inspector General of Police, CID Sindh, as the Chief Witness Protection Officer, heading a unit in the Home Department.

How does a witness apply?

By a written application to the unit, or through an order of the court hearing the case, according to what the province told the court. No form has been published.

Will the amendment weaken the law?

Nobody can say yet. No draft has been published. The province says the aim is to match international best practice.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked 19 October 2026. The Act's sections, its Schedule, and the dates of passage, assent and publication come from the text of the Sindh Witness Protection Act, 2013 published by the Sindh Judicial Academy, which we read on 19 October 2026. The hearing, the officers' statements, the petition and the next date come from a national daily's report of 18 October 2026, and the history of the draft rules from the same daily's report of May 2024, because the Sindh High Court does not publish the order sheet of this case on a page we could reach. We did not attend the hearing. This is general information, not legal advice.