21F-9445

Constitution of 1956 important clauses and contextual analysis

After assuming charge as Prime Minister, Chaudhary Muhammad Ali and his team
worked hard to formulate a constitution. The committee, which was assigned the task to frame
the Constitution, presented the draft Bill in the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on January 9,
1956. The bill was opposed by the Bengali autonomists. Bhashai, the leader of Awami League in
East Pakistan.

The Constitution of 1956 consisted of 234 articles, divided into 13 parts and 6 schedules.
Following were the chief characteristics of the Constitution:

 Pakistan was declared as the Islamic Republic and it was made mandatory that only a
Muslim could become the President of the country.
 The constitution provided for the federal form of government with three lists of
subjects: federal, provincial and concurrent. The federal list consisted of 33 items,
provincial of 94 items, and a concurrent list of 19 items.
 Any Muslim citizen of Pakistan, who was at least forty years old, could be elected as the
President of Pakistan for the term of five years.
 President could appoint from amongst the MNAs a Prime Minister who had to take the
vote of confidence from the house in two months.
 President had the power to summon, prorogue, and dissolve the Assembly on the
advice of the cabinet.
 Prime Minister and his cabinet were to aid and advise the president. 
 The Constitution entitled for a Unicameral Legislature. The National Assembly was to
consist of 300 members. The age limit of a candidate for a seat in the National Assembly
was 25 years.
 It was a Written Constitution.
 It was a Flexible Constitution and two-third members of the Assembly could bring an
amendment to the constitution
 Fundamental Rights were made justiciable. However, the President had the power to
suspend fundamental rights in case of emergency.
 Elaborate provisions were made for the higher judiciary to ensure its independence.
 Urdu and Bengali were declared as the state languages. However, for the first twenty
years, English was to continue as an official language.
 Salient features of 1962's constitution and resulting presidential
system
After the military coup of 1958, Ayub Khan waited for some time intending to pave the
path of public opinion in his favor. A legislative commission was established in the leadership of
Justice Shahaab-ud-din. The commission forwarded the report on 6th May 1961. Justice
Manzoor Qadir designed and drafted the whole constitution. Ayub, bypassing a presidential
ordinance, enacted the new constitution on 8th June 1962.

It had the following salient features:-

 It was in written form and had information about the state institutions and their mutual
relations.
 The constitution was not passed with the consent of the elected representatives of the
people.
 The constitution was president-friendly; making amendments was easy only if
supported and endorsed by the president or it was a very lengthy and difficult job. For
making any amendment, the 2/3rd majority of the assembly had to pass the bill and then
had to send it to the president. If the president did not take up any objection for thirty
days, the amendment was considered valid.
 It was a federal system of government with East Pakistan and West Pakistan as its units.
The constitution contained the list of only federal authorities, the rest were given to the
federating units.
 Unlike previous constitutions, the Indian Act 1935 and the constitution of 1956, it was
presidential with all the executive powers resting with the president. He was the
constitutional head of government and state.
 It was a unicameral system of government with only one house. The members of the
National Assembly were elected by the basic democrats.
 The judiciary was kept independent to the extent of theory. All the judges of the High
courts had to be selected and appointed by the president with the advice of the chief
justice. But the president was not bound to the opinion or wishes of the Chief Justice.
 The constitution guaranteed the basic human rights for all the citizens of Pakistan
without any discrimination of caste, creed, and color.
Bhutto's brainchild: 1973 constitution and restoration of popular
democracy
The constitution of Pakistan 1973 was enforced on 14 th Aug 1973. It consists of 280 articles and
7 schedules with Objective Resolution forming the preamble of the constitution beside 20 amendments
which have been made since then. It is regarded as the landmark accomplishment of Bhutto’s era as it
was a unanimous act of the parliament with complete consensus of all the political parties. However,
many twists and turns have been witnessed ever since its enforcement but still it is the supreme law of
land and the sacrosanct instrument which reigns supreme in governance of the state.

The constitution declared Pakistan an Islamic republic laying down condition for head of state
and head of the government to be Muslims. However, 8th amendment has made the Objective
Resolution a substantial part of the constitution by incorporating it as article 2A according to which all
laws made in Pakistan should be in accordance with the injunctions of Quran and Sunnah. Its Islamic
character is further reinforced by accepting the sovereignty of Almighty Allah, Islam to be the state
religion and by promising the Muslims to enable them to order their lives in accordance with the
fundamental principles of Islam. It also provides a long list of fundamental rights as well directive
principles of state policy.

The subsequent voyage of the constitution however was not smooth. It has been suspended or
held in abeyance twice. Amendments made by military dictators have changed spirit of original
constitution. So far, 20 amendments have been made most of which have been brought about not for
the fulfillment of compulsions and needs of changing times but to accomplish the selfish ends. This
experimentation has achieved nothing but instability in the country that has blocked the process of
establishing and strengthening the democratic system in Pakistan.

Important Amendments in 1973’s Constitution

Amendments in the constitution are a necessity to bring it into line with the needs of the
changing times. These amendments and adaptations keep the sacred instrument afresh and up-to-date.
Similarly, the constitution of 1973 that came into force on 14 th August 1973 was amended seven times
during the Bhutto regime while nineteen others were made between 1985 and 2019. However, most of
these amendments were not made out of necessity but were motivated by some ulterior motives:

 May 4, 1974: Recognition of Bangladesh; Redefined boundaries of the country; Omission

of References to East Pakistan in the Constitution.
 September 7, 1974: Defined a Muslim; Ahmadis were defined as non-Muslim and
Minority.
 February 18, 1975: To victimize political opponents period of preventive detention was
increased from one month to three months.
 November 21, 1975: Curtailed the jurisdictions of courts; courts were not allowed to
grant bail to a person detained under preventive detention.
  September 5, 1976: Widened the scope of restrictions on courts (period of separation of
judiciary from the executive was increased from 3 to 5 year; Maximum tenure of the CJ
of Supreme and High Courts was fixed as 5 and 4 years respectively.
 December 22, 1976: passed on the last day of the assembly before the elections; Chief
Justice of Supreme Court and High court would complete 5 and 4 years of tenure.
 May 16, 1977: Provided for a referendum to demonstrate confidence in the Prime
Minister.
 November 11, 1985: Before the assembly met on March 23, 1985, President issued
Revival of the Constitution of 1973 Order (RCO) on March 2, 1985, and made massive
changes in the constitution.
 March 29, 1987: Decreased the duration of the interval between the sessions of the NA
and Senate from 160 to 130 days.
 July 3, 1997: Members of the parliament were dismissed if they defect.
 August 5, 1999: Increased the validity of quota system from 20 to 40 years.
 April 8, 2010: Speaker of the NA constituted a Committee on Constitutional Reforms (27
members from all the parties in the parliament) in April 2009; Raza Rabbani was elected
as its chairman.
 December 22, 2010: Taken powers from Chief Justice for the appoint new judges and
given the power to Judicial Council of Pakistan consisting of 4 senior judges.
 January 7, 2015: Speedy trial military courts to deal with terrorism for two years to be
expired on January 6, 2017.
 June 8, 2016: Besides retired Judges of the Supreme and High courts, retired senior
bureaucrats and technocrats could also become Chief Election Commissioner and
Members of the Election Commission.
 January 7, 2017: Extension of speedy trial military courts to deal with terrorism for
another two years.
 May 25, 2018: Merger of FATA with KP.
 May 13, 2019: Seats of Tribal districts in NA would remain 12 while their seats in KP
assembly will be increased from 16 to 24.

POLITICAL AND CONSTITUIONAL HISTORY OF

PAKISTAN
Political History:-
August 14, 1947 - Muslim League leader Mohammad Ali Jinnah, known as Quaid-e-Azam, is sworn in as
the first governor-general of Pakistan after British India is divided into two independent states – the
Muslim majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority India. Liaquat Ali Khan becomes the first prime minister .

October 16, 1951 - Liaquat Ali Khan, who drafted the Objectives Resolution – a preamble to the current
constitution – is assassinated in Rawalpindi.
March 23, 1956 - Military strongman Iskander Mirza is sworn in as the first president and approves
Pakistan's first constitution.

October 7, 1958 -  Iskander Mirza declares martial law.

October 27, 1958 - Army Commander General Ayub Khan dismisses Mirza in the first successful coup of
the country.

January 2, 1965 - Ayub Khan defeats Fatima Jinnah, sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and is re-elected as
president in an election that is marred by allegations of political rigging by the powerful military.

December 7, 1970 - First general elections are held with victory of East Pakistani leader of the Awami
League.

December 20, 1971 - Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is elected president.

July 5, 1977 -  Bhutto is deposed by then army chief General Ziaul Haq and arrested on charges of
authorising a murder of a political opponent. Zia declares martial law.

April 4, 1979 - Bhutto is hanged in Rawalpindi after a controversial trial on charges of corruption and
extrajudicial killings.

November 16, 1988 - Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, wins elections, becoming the
country's first female prime minister.

November 5, 1996 - Leghari dismisses Benazir's government on corruption charges.

October 12, 1999 - Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf stages a coup to topple the civilian
government of Sharif.

December 27, 2007 - Benazir is assassinated in a gun and bomb attack after addressing a campaign rally
in Rawalpindi.

May 11, 2013 - General elections are held and Sharif becomes prime minister after his PML-N wins the
polls.

July 28, 2017 - Sharif resigns from office after the Supreme Court disqualifies him over a corruption case
related to ownership of luxury flats in London.
July 14, 2018 - Sharif and daughter Maryam Nawaz are arrested after their return to Lahore from
London, where they were tending to an ailing wife and mother Kulsoom Nawaz.

Constitutional History:-

Following independence, it took three Governor Generals, four Prime Ministers, two constituent
assemblies (1947-1954 & 1955-1956), and nine years of protracted constitution making process to
produce the first constitution of Pakistan in 1956. It was rejected on the final day of its adoption (29
February 1956).

The Process of Adoption of Current Constitution:-

Members of the constituent assembly (1972-1973) that drafted the current constitution were
elected in 1970 when the country was still united. The secession of East Pakistan (present Bangladesh) in
1971 altered the political landscape of the country in fundamental ways. Nevertheless, no fresh
elections were held and members elected from West Pakistan in the 1970 elections formed the
constituent assembly for Pakistan.

The Federal Executive:-

The President is the head of state, represents the unity of the republic and is elected by a simple
majority of an electoral college consisting of members of the two houses of federal legislature and of
the four provincial legislatures. The President can be removed if he or she is found unfit to hold office
due to physical incapacity or impeached in case of violation of the constitution in a joint sitting of the
federal houses by votes of not less than two-thirds of its total membership.

The Federal Legislature:-

Parliament, the federal bicameral legislature, consists of the President, the lower house and
upper house. Seats in the NA were apportioned on the basis of population with a total of 342 seats. The
Assembly is elected for five years unless the President dissolves it sooner.

The Judiciary:-

The 1973 constitution provides for a hierarchy of the judicial branch with the Supreme Court of
Pakistan. Lower courts in each province are under the administrative control of their respective high
court. As a federal court, the Supreme Court has original and exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute
between and amongst the federal and provincial governments.