Updated: Sunday August 31, 2014/AlAhad
Thoul Ki'dah 06, 1435/Ravivara
Bhadra 09, 1936, at 05:06:41 PM
The
[1]ACT NO. VI OF 1956
[11th April, 1956]
An Act to provide for the appointment of Commissions of Inquiry
and for vesting such Commissions with certain powers.
Preamble
WHEREAS it is expedient to provide for the
appointment of Commissions of Inquiry and for vesting such Commissions with
certain powers;
It is hereby enacted as follows:
___
1. Short title, extent and commencement.___ (1) This Act may be called the Pakistan
Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1956.
(2)
It extends to the whole of
(3)
It shall come into force at once.
2. Definitions. In
this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,___
(a)
“Commission” means a Commission of Inquiry appointed or deemed to have been
appointed under section 3; and
(b)
“prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under section 12.
3. Appointment of Commission.___ (1) The [2][Federal
Government] may, if it is of opinion that it is necessary so to do, by
notification[3]
in the official Gazette, appoint a Commission of Inquiry for the purpose of
making an inquiry into any definite matter of public importance and performing
such functions and within such time as may be specified in the notification,
and the Commission so appointed shall make the inquiry and perform the
functions accordingly.
(2) The Commission may consist of one or
more members appointed by the [4][Federal
Government], and where the Commission consists of more than one member, one of
them may be appointed as the President thereof.
4. Powers of Commission. The Commission shall have the powers of a
(a)
summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath;
(b)
requiring the discovery and production of any documents;
(c)
receiving evidence on affidavits;
(d)
issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses or documents.
5. Additional powers of Commission.___ (1) Where the [5][Federal
Government] is of opinion that, having regard to the nature of the inquiry to
be made and other circumstances of the case, all or any of the provisions of
subsection (2) or subsection (3) or subsection (4) [6][or
sub-section (4A)] or subsection (5) or subsection (6) should be made
applicable to a Commission, the 1[Federal Government] may, by
notification in the official Gazette, direct that all or such of the said
provisions as may be specified in the notification shall apply to that
Commission and on the issue of such a notification, the said provisions shall
apply accordingly.
(2)
The Commission shall have power to require any person, subject to any privilege
which may be claimed by that person under any law for the time being in force,
to furnish information on such points or matters as, in the opinion of the
Commission, may be useful for, or relevant to, the subject‑matter of the
inquiry.
(3)
The President or any officer, not below the rank of a gazetted officer, specially
authorised in this behalf by the President may enter any building or place
where the Commission has reason to believe that any books of account or other
documents relating to the subject‑matter of the inquiry may be found, and
may seize any such books of account or documents or take extracts or copies there-from,
subject to the provisions of section 102 and section 103 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1898, in so far as they may be applicable:
(4)
The Commission shall be deemed to be a Civil Court and when any offence as is
described in section 175, section 178, section 179, section 180 or section 228
of the Pakistan Penal Code, is committed in the view or presence of the
Commission, the Commission may, after recording the facts constituting the offence
and the statement of the accused as provided for in the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1898, forward the case to a magistrate having jurisdiction to try
the same and the magistrate to whom any such case is forwarded shall proceed to
hear the complaint against the accused as if the case had been forwarded to him
under section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.
[7][4A. Where a Commission consists of, or the
President thereof is Judge of the Supreme Court or a High Court, the Commission
shall have the same power as the High Court has to punish any person who,---
(a)
abuses, interferes with or obstructs the process of the Commission in any way
or disobeys any order of the Commission;
(b)
Scandalizes the Commission or otherwise does anything which tends to bring the
Commission or a member of the Commission in relation to his office into hatred,
ridicule or contempt;
(c)
does anything which tends to prejudice the determination of a matter pending before
the Commission; or
(d)
does any other thing which, by any other law, constitutes contempt of court;
Provided
that fair comment made in good faith and in the Public interest on the working
of the Commission or on its final report after the completion of the enquiry
shall not constitute contempt of the Commission.
(4B)
The exercise of the power conferred on a Commission by sub-section (4A) shall
be regulated by rules made by the Supreme Court.]
(5)
Any proceeding before the Commission shall be deemed to be a judicial
proceeding within the meaning of , sections 193 and 228 of the Pakistan Penal
Code.
(6)
The Commission shall have the powers of a civil court, while trying a suit
under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, in respect of requisitioning any
public record or copy thereof from any court or office.
6. Statements made by persons to the
Commission. No
statement made by a person in the course of giving evidence before the
Commission shall subject him to, or be used against him in, any civil or
criminal proceeding except a prosecution for giving false evidence by such
statement :
Provided
that the statement,___
(a)
is made in reply to a question which he is required by the Commission to
answer; or
(b)
is relevant to the subject‑matter of inquiry.
7. Commission to cease to exist when to
notified. The [8][Federal
Government] may, if it is of opinion that the continued existence of a
Commission is unnecessary, by notification in the official Gazette, declare
that the Commission shall case to exist from such date as may be specified in
this behalf in such notification. and thereupon, the Commission shall lease to
exist.
8. Procedure to be followed by the
Commission. The
Commission shall subject to any rules that may be made in this behalf, have
power to regulate it's own procedure (including the fixing of places and times
of its sittings and deciding whether to sit in public or in private) and may
act notwithstanding the temporary absence of any member or the existence of a
vacancy among its members.
9. Protection of action taken in good faith.
No suit or other legal
proceedings shall lie against the 1[Federal Government], the
Commission or any member thereof, or any person acting under the direction
either of the [9][Federal
Government] or of the Commission in respect of anything which is in good faith
done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act or of any rules or orders
made thereunder or in respect of the publication, by or under the authority of
the [10][Federal
Government] or the Commission, of any report, paper or proceedings.
10. Members, etc., to be public servants. Every member of the Commission and every
officer appointed or authorised by the Commission to exercise functions under
this Act shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of section
21 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
[11][10A.___ (1) The 1[Federal Government]
may, by notification in the official Gazette and subject to such conditions or
restriction, if any, as may be mentioned in the notification, confer upon the
Commission the power to order a police investigation into any matter coming
before it.
(2) In conducting an investigation ordered under sub-section (1) the police shall exercise the powers conferred on the police in respect of a cognizable case by Chapter XIV of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.]
11. Act to apply to other inquiring authorities in certain
cases. Where any
authority (by whatever name called), other than a Commission appointed under
section 3, has been or is set up under any resolution or order of the 1[Federal
Government] for the purpose of making an inquiry into any definite matter of
public importance and the 1[Federal Government] is of opinion that
all or any of the provisions of this Act should be made applicable to that
authority, the [12][Federal
Government] may, by notification in the official Gazette, direct that the said
provisions of this Act shall apply to that authority, and on the issue of such
notification, that authority shall be deemed to be a Commission appointed under
section 3 for the purpose of this Act.
12. Power to make rules. The [13][Federal
Government] may, by notification in the official Gazette, make rules to carry
out the purposes of this Act.
13. [Repeal
of Ordinance XXIV of 1955.]
Omitted by the Federal Laws (Revision and Declaration) Ordinance, 1981 (27 of
1981), s. 3 and II Sch.
[1] For Statement of Objects and
Reasons, see Gaz. of
P., dated the 4th April, 1956, Ext., p. 537.
The provisions of sections 2, 4,5,8,9,10 and 12 of this Act have been applied to Committee set up by Order no. 1/7/59-SB, dated the 15th May, 1959 (Gaz. of P., 1959, Ext., pp. 795-796), see Gaz. of P., 1959, Ext., p. 832.
[2] Subs. by the
[3] For such notifn., see Gaz. of P., 1956, Ext., p. 1995.
[4] Subs. by the
[5] Subs. by the
[6] Ins. ibid., s. 3.
[7] Ins. by the
[8] Subs. by the
[9] Subs. by the
[10] Subs. by the
[11] Section 10A ins. by the
[12] Subs. by the
[13] Subs. by the
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