Updated: Sunday March 23, 2014/AlAhad
Jamada El Oula 22, 1435/Ravivara
Chaitra 02, 1936, at 11:20:26 AM
The Establishment of
An Act to provide for the
establishment of the
No. F. 42‑1/55‑Cons., 3rd October, 1955
(Gazette, 3rd October, 1955).‑This Act passed by the Constituent Assembly
of Pakistan on the 30th September, 1955, received the asset of the
Governor General on the 3rd October, 1955, and was published for general
information in the Gazette, Extraordinary, dated 3rd October 1955.
It is hereby enacted as follows:---
1. Short title and commencement.‑ (I) This
Act may be called the Establishment of West Pakistan Act, 1955.
(2) It shall come into force at once.
2. Integration of the Provinces and States into
(i) the Governors’ Provinces of the Punjab, the
(ii) the Chief Commissioner’s
(iii) the States of Bahawalpur and Khairpur, and the
Baluchistan States Union.
(iv) the Tribal Areas of Baluchistan, the Punjab and
the North-West Frontier, and the States of Amb, Chitral, Dir and Swat
(herein*after referred to as the “specified territories”), shall be
incorporated into the
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the
preceding subsection the Capital of the Federation shall be administered in
accordance with the provisions of section 290A of the Government of India Act,
1935.
(3) Nothing in this Act shall authorize any change in
the internal administration of the Tribal Areas of Baluchistan and the North
West Frontier or the States of Amb, Chitral, Dir and Swat (hereinafter referred
to as the “special areas”) except in accordance with this subsection and the
following provisions shall apply to the special areas:---
(a) The executive authority of the Province of
West Pakistan shall extend to any special area therein, but no Act of the
Federal Legislature or of the Provincial Legislature shall apply to a special
area or any part thereof unless the Governor with the previous approval of the
Governor General so directs, and in giving such a direction with respect to any
Act the Governor may direct that the Act shall in its application to the area,
or to any specified part thereof, have effect subject to such exceptions and
modifications as he thinks fit;
(b) The Governor may with the approval of the Governor
General make regulations for the peace and good government of a special area or
any part thereof and any regulation so made may repeal or amend any Act of
the Federal Legislature or of the Provincial Legislature or any other law in
force in the Area;
(c) The Governor General may give such directions to
the Governor relating to any special area as he may , deem necessary and the
Governor shall in the discharge of his function under this subsection, comply
with such direction; and
(d) The Governor General may at any time by order
direct that the whole or any part of a special area shall cease to be special
area or alter the boundaries of any special area, and any such order may
contain such incidental and consequential provision as appear to the
Governor-General to be necessary and proper:---
Provided that before making such an order the Governor
General shall ascertain, in such manner as he considers appropriate, the views
of the people of the special area or areas concerned.
3. Taxes, Assets Property, Liabilities, etc. of
the Capital of Federation. Notwithstanding
anything to the contrary in sections 6 and 9 of this Act the proceeds of all
taxes and other revenues payable in accordance with the laws in force
immediately before the appointed day, in the Capital of the Federation shall
continue to be payable to the revenues of the Federation and all property and
assets which immediately before the appointed day vested in the Federal
Government in respect of the Capital of the Federation shall continue to be
vested in the Federal Government and all rights, liabilities and obligations of
the Federal Government in respect of the Capital of the Federation shall
continue to be the rights, liabilities and obligations of the Federal
Government.
4. Amendments of laws. As
from the appointed day any reference in any Act, including the Government of
India Act, 1935, and the Indian Independence Act, 1947, or in any rule,
regulation, order, bye‑law or public notification to any specified
territory shall be construed as a reference to the
5. Orders of the Governor General.‑(I) The
Governor General may by order make such provision as appear to him to be
necessary or expedient,---
(a) far constituting the
(b) for the purpose of adaptation of laws, make
repeals of, omissions from, additions to and modifications of any Act (other
than this Act, the Government of India Act, 1935, or the Indian Independence
Act, 1947), or any Order-in-Council, Letters Patent, Ordinance or any rule,
regulations, order bye-law or public notification applying immediately before
the appointed day to any specified territory,
(c) for authorizing the exercise, by any person or
authority specified in the Order, of any of the functions of government in any
specified territory between the date of this Act and the appointed day;
(d) for other matters supplemental, and incidental to
and consequential upon the establishment of the
(2) The Governor
General may delegate any of his functions under clause (b) and (c) of
subsection (1) of this section to the Governor of West Pakistan and any order
of the Governor may include any matter supplemental or incidental to, or
consequential upon, any provision made by such order;
Provided that the power exercisable under this section
shall not extend beyond six months from the appointed day.
6. Financial provisions.‑ (1) The
proceeds of all taxes and other revenues payable in accordance with the laws in
force immediately before the appointed day to the revenues or the public funds
of any Governor’s Province in the specified territories, or to the revenues or
public funds of the State of Bahawalpur or the State of Khairpur or the
Baluchistan States Union shall be payable to the revenues or public funds of
the Province of West Pakistan, as the case may be.
(2) The proceeds of all taxes and other revenues
payable in accordance with the laws in force immediately before the appointed
day in any of the specified territories to the revenues or the public funds of
the Federation but which would, if the specified territory had been a Governor’s
Province, have been payable to the revenues or the public funds of the
Province, shall be payable to the revenues or the public funds of the Province
of West Pakistan.
(3) There shall be paid from the revenues of the
Federation to the revenues of the
(a) in respect of each complete financial year after
the appointed day, a sum estimated by the Governor General to be the difference
between the proceeds of the taxes and other revenues referred to in subsection
(2) of this section in the last complete financial year before the appointed
day and the expenditure of the Federation during that financial year in the
specified territories to which that subsection applies in respect of functions
which are by or under this Act transferred to the Province of West Pakistan;
and
(b) in respect of the financial year which includes
the appointed day, such proportion of the sum payable under paragraph (a) of
this subsection as the Governor General thinks equitable.
(4) Pending the exercise by the Legislative Assembly
of West Pakistan of the powers vested in it by sections 78 to 81 of the
Government of India Act, 1935, the Governor of West Pakistan shall have power
to authenticate by his signature a schedule specifying,---
(a) the sums required to meet expenditure charged upon
the revenues of the Province; and
(b) the sums required to meet other expenditure
proposed to be made from the revenues of the Province;
and any such schedule shall be sufficient authority
for the expenditure of the sums specified therein and shall be valid for a
period of not more than six months from the appointed day.
7. High Courts.‑(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in
any law, including the Government of India Act, 1935, the Governor General may
by order establish a High Court for the Province of West Pakistan to replace
the High Court in Lahore, the Chief Court of Sind and the Judicial
Commissioners’ Courts in North West Frontier Province and Baluchistan and any
other Court functioning as High Court for any other specified territories, and
the High Court so established and the judges thereof shall exercise
jurisdiction in relation to the whole of the Province of West Pakistan, and the
powers and authority exercisable by the High Court in Lahore and the Judges thereof,
immediately before the date on which the order under this subsection comes into
force, shall be exercisable by the High Court of West Pakistan and the judges
thereof in the whole of West Pakistan, and section 223 of the Government of
India Act, 1935, shall be construed accordingly.
(2) As from. the date of the establishment of the High
Court of West Pakistan under subsection (1) of this section, section 219 of the
Government of India Act, 1935, shall be omitted and the following shall be
substituted therefore:---
“219.‑The following Courts shall in relation to
Pakistan, be deemed to be High Courts for the purposes of this Act, that is to
say, the High Court of East Bengal, and the High Court of West Pakistan”.
(3) As from the date of establishment of a High Court
for the Province of West Pakistan under subsection (1) of this section the
Judges of the High Court of Lahore, the Judges of the Chief Court of Sind and
the Judges of the Judicial Commissioner’s Court of North West Frontier province
shall become Judges of the High Court of West Pakistan and the Chief Justice of
the High Court of Lahore shall become the Chief Justice of the High Court of
West Pakistan,---
Provided that,---
(a) a person who becomes a Judge of the High Court of
West Pakistan in accordance with this subsection shall be entitled to terms and
conditions of service including terms and conditions in respect of leave and
pension, not less favorable than those to which he was entitled as a Judge of
the High Court from which he is transferred under this subsection, and section
221 of the Government of India Act, 1935, shall be construed accordingly.
(b) any person who was immediately before the date of the order serving as a
temporary or additional judge shall on that date become a temporary or
additional judge, as the case may be, in the High Court of West Pakistan, and
section 222 of the Government of India Act, 1935, shall be construed
accordingly.
(4) An order under subsection (1) of this section
shall make such provision as seems to the Governor-General to be necessary or
expedient for determining the places within the Provinces of West Pakistan at
which the High Court or any Judges or division thereof may sit.
8. Public Services and Public Service Commission.‑‑ (I) The Governor
of West Pakistan may by order establish a Public Service Commission for the
Province of West Pakistan to replace the Joint Public Service Commission for
the Punjab and North‑West Frontier Province, the Public Service
Commission for Sind, and any other Public Service Commission functioning as
such for any other specified territory.
(2) As from the date of the establishment of the
Public Service Commission for the Province of West Pakistan under subsection
(1) of this section, the Chairman and members of the Joint Public Service
Commission for the Punjab and North‑West Frontier Province and of the
Public Service Commission for Sind shall become members of the Public Service
Commission of the Province of West Pakistan;
Provided that,---
(a) Nothing in this subsection shall extend the period
of service of any person transferred under this subsection; and
(b) A person
transferred under this subsection shall be employed under terms and conditions
not less favourable than the terms and conditions on which he was employed
immediately before the appointed day.
(3) All persons in the service of the Crown, serving
in connection with the affairs of the specified territories, and all persons
holding civil posts under the Government of the State of Bahawalpur, or the
State of Khairpur, or the Baluchistan States Union, shall, as from the
appointed day, be deemed to be persons serving the Crown in connection with the
affairs of the Province of West Pakistan on such terms and conditions as the
Governor of the Province of West Pakistan may determine;
Provided that,---
(a) such
terms and conditions shall not be less favourable than the terms and conditions
admissible to them immediately before the 10th day of August, 1955; and
(b) notwithstanding the terms of his appointment in
the specified territory, any such person may be required to serve in any post
or capacity and in any part of
9. Transfer of property, liabilities, etc.‑(1) All property
and assets which immediately before the appointed day were vested in Her
Majesty for purposes of the Government of any Governor’s Province included in
the specified territories or in the Ruler of any State so included for the
purposes of the government of that State shall vest in Her Majesty for the
purpose of the government of West Pakistan : and the rights, liabilities and
obligations of any such province or State shall be the rights, liabilities and
obligations of the Province of West Pakistan.
(2) The Governor‑General may by order declare
that any property and assets which immediately before the appointed day were
vested in Her Majesty for the purposes of the government of any other specified
territory shall vest in Her Majesty for the purposes of the government of West
Pakistan and that any of the rights, liabilities and obligations of any such
territory shall be the rights, liabilities and obligations of the Province of
West Pakistan.
(3) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section
shall not apply to any property or assets recognized by the Governor‑General
as the private property of the Ruler of a State.
10. Continuation of laws.‑(1) Except
as otherwise provided in this Act, and subject to any order of the Governor‑General
under section 5 of this Act, and to the powers of any competent Legislature,
all laws in force in West Pakistan immediately before the appointed day shall
continue to apply to the areas and the persons to whom they would have applied
if this Act had not been passed.
(2) For the purposes of this section “law” includes
any Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, any law passed by a competent
Legislature in India or Pakistan, and any Order‑in‑Council, Letters
Patent, ordinance, order, regulation, rule, bye‑law or public
notification made or issued by a competent authority.
(3) For the purpose of bringing the provisions of the
Government of India Act, 1935, into accord with the provisions of this Act, the
Government of India Act, 1935, shall as from the appointed day be amended in
accordance with the provisions of the First Schedule to this Act.
11. Interim Legislature for West Pakistan.‑(I) Notwithstanding
anything in the Government of India Act, 1935, there shall be, until a
Provincial Legislature is constituted for West Pakistan in accordance with that
Act, an Interim Provincial Legislature for West Pakistan consisting of the
Governor of West Pakistan and a Legislature Assembly which shall be composed of
three hundred and ten members as provided in the Second Schedule to this Act:---
Provided that the Interim Legislature shall, unless
dissolved earlier in accordance with the provisions of the Government of India
Act, 1935, or for the purpose of enforcement of the new Constitution to be
framed by the Constituent Assembly, stand dissolved on the expiration of
eighteen months from the date of the commencement of this Act.
(2) A person shall be qualified for election to the
Legislative Assembly constituted under this section if he is,---
(a) a
citizen of
(b) twenty‑five years of age;
(c) resident in
(d) not disqualified for being chosen as a member of a
Provincial Legislative Assembly by section 79 of the Government of India Act,
1935.
(3) for the purposes of each election at the general
election, the Governor of West Pakistan shall appoint a Returning officer who
shall conduct the election in accordance with the provisions of this Act;
Provided that for the purpose of first general
election to the Interim Provincial Legislature the Returning Officer shall be
appointed by the Governor-General.
(4) An election under this section shall be held on a
day and at a place and time fixed by the Governor of West Pakistan;
Provided that for the purpose of the first general
election to the interim Provincial Legislature the date, place and time shall
be fixed by the Governor-General.
(5) The Interim Provincial Legislature may by law make
provision for the filling of casual vacancies.
(6) The provisions of the Government of India Act,
1935, shall apply to the Interim Provincial Legislature established under this
Act as they apply to a Provincial Legislature under section 60 of the
Government of India Act, 1935;
Provided that,---
(a) the composition of the Legislative Assembly shall
be such as is specified in this section; and
(b) the Fifth and Sixth Schedules to that Act shall
not apply.
(7) On the appointing day the Legislative Assemblies
of the Pro*vinces of the Punjab, the North‑West Frontier Province and
Sind, and the Legislative Assembly of the State of Khairpur, shall cease to
exist, and the persons holding offices as Minister, Parliamentary Secretary,
Private Parliamentary Secretary or Speaker or Deputy Speaker of such
Legislative Assembly shall cease to hold such offices;
Provided that the first meeting of the Interim
Provincial Legislature shall be held within sixty days of the completion of the
elections.
12. Disputes relating to election to Interim
Legislature of West Pakistan.‑‑(1) If any
doubt or dispute arises as to whether a person has or has not been validly
elected to the Legislative Assembly constituted under section 11 of this Act,
it shall be raised by a petition to the Governor of West Pakistan and if,---
(a) the petition is received by the Governor within a
period of thirty days after the publication of the result of the election in
the official Gazette; and
(b) before or at the same time as the petition is
received by the Governor the petitioner has deposited in a treasury of the
Government of West Pakistan the sum of rupees one thousand in cash as security
for the cost of the investigation;
the Governor shall appoint a tribunal (hereinafter
referred to as the “tribunal”) in accordance with the provision of subsection
(2) of this section.
(2) The tribunal shall consist of a chairman who shall
be or has been a Judge of a High Court and of two other persons who, shall be
or have been District and Sessions Judges in
(3) The tribunal shall have all such powers of a High
Court as it may deem necessary to investigate the question including the powers
to enforce the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents, and
shall decide its own procedure.
(4) For the purpose of investigation and decision of
doubts and disputes the provisions of the Government of India (Provincial
Elections) (Corrupt Practices and Election Petitions) Order, 1936, and of Part
E of the Punjab Legislative Assembly Electoral Rules, 1950, relating to Corrupt
Practices and the Final Decision of Doubts and disputes as to the validity of
an Election, shall apply with such modifications as the context may require.
(5) The tribunal shall report to the Governor on the question sub*mitted to it,
and the Governor shall make such consequential order as to him seems necessary
to give effect to the report, and any such order shall be final and shall not
be questioned in any Court.
(6) The validity of an election under section 1 I of this Act shall not be
questioned in any Court.
13. Filling of casual vacancies in the Constituent
Assembly.‑(I) For section 8 of the Constituent Assembly (Proceedings and
Privileges) Act, 1955 the following provision shall as from the appointed day
be substituted,---
“8. Whenever the seat of a member of the Assembly
becomes vacant the Speaker of the Assembly shall within seven days of the vancy
give notice thereof in the official Gazette and as soon as may be reason*ably
practicable thereafter the Governor of East Bengal, or the Governor of West
Pakistan, as the case my be, shall take steps to fill the vacancy, and shall
appoint a returning officer, who shall conduct the election in accordance with
the rules in the Schedule to this Act”.
(2) For the purposes of an election to fill a casual
vacancy to which subsection (2) of section 8 of the Constituent Assembly
(Proceedings and Privileges) Act, 1955, applies, the following amendments shall
as from the appointed day be made in the Schedule to that Act, that is to
say,---
(a) In rule 2, the words “in the case of fast Bengal,
the Punjab the North‑West Frontier Province and
(b) Rule 3 shall be omitted.
(c )In the rule 4, the words “ or rules” shall be
omitted.
(d) In rule
10, the words “or the Chief Commissioner, as the case may be” shall be omitted.
14. Forty per cent. representation of Punjab.‑For a period
of ten years from the commencement of this Act, the number of persons elected
to represent the territory which immediately before the commencement of this
Act constituted the
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