( II of
1969)
[14th
April, 1969]
An
Ordinance
to
provide for the appointment of Tribunals of Inquiry and for vesting such
Tribunals with certain powers
Preamble.— WHEREAS it is expedient to provide for the appointment of Tribunals
of Inquiry and for vesting such Tribunals with certain powers;
Now, THEREFORE, in pursuance of the
Martial Law Proclamation of 25th March, 1969, read with the Provisional
Constitution Order, the Administrator of Martial Law, Zone A, in exercise of
the powers of the Governor West Pakistan conferred on him by the Chief Martial
Law Administrator, is pleased to make and promulgate the following Ordinance:-
1.
Short title,
extent and commencement.— (1) This Ordinance may be called the 3[Punjab] Tribunals of Inquiry Ordinance,
1969.
(3)
It shall come into force at once.
2.
Definitions.—
In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires, the following
expressions shall have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them—
(b)
“prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under
section 13; and
(c)
“Tribunal” means a Tribunal appointed or deemed to have
been appointed under section 3, and includes a Commission or Committee of
Inquiry appointed under the said section.
3.
Appointment
of Tribunal, Commission or Committee of Inquiry.— (1) Government may, if it
is of opinion that it is necessary so to do, by notification in the official
Gazette, appoint a Tribunal, Commission or Committee 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 Tribunal, Commission or Committee so appointed shall make
the inquiry and perform the function accordingly.
(2)
The Tribunal may consist of one or more members
appointed by Government, and where the Tribunal consists of more than one
member, one of them may be appointed as the President or Chairman thereof.
4.
Powers of
Tribunal.— The Tribunal shall have the powers of a civil court, while
trying a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908[5], in respect
of the following matters, namely:-
(a)
summoning and enforcing the attendance of person and
examining him on oath;
(b)
requiring the discovery and production of any document;
(c)
receiving evidence on affidavits;
(d)
issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses or
documents.
5.
Additional
powers of Tribunal.— (1) Where 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 sub-section (2) or sub-section (3) or
sub-section (4) or sub-section (5) or sub-section
(6) should be made applicable to a Tribunal, 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
Tribunal, and on the issue of such a notification, the said provisions shall
apply accordingly.
(2)
The Tribunal 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 Tribunal, may be useful for, or relevant to, the subject
matter of the inquiry.
(3)
The President or the Chairman of the Tribunal, or any
officer, not below the rank of a gazetted officer, specially authorised in this
behalf by Government may enter any building or place where the Tribunal 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 therefrom, subject to the
provisions of section 102 and section 103 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
1898[6], in so far as
they may be applicable.
(4)
The Tribunal 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[7], is committed
in the view or presence of the Tribunal, the Tribunal 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[8].
(5)
Any proceeding before the Tribunal shall be deemed to
be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of sections 193 and 228 of the
Pakistan Penal Code[9].
(6)
The Tribunal shall have the powers of a civil court,
while trying a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908[10], in respect
of requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office.
6.
Statements
made by persons to the Tribunal.— No statement made by a person in the
course of giving evidence before the Tribunal 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 Tribunal to answer; or
(b) is relevant to the subject matter
of inquiry.
7.
Tribunal to
cease to exist when so notified.— Government may, if it is of opinion that
the continued existence of a Tribunal is unnecessary, by notification in the
official Gazette, declare that the Tribunal shall cease to exist from such date
as may be specified in this behalf in such notification, and thereupon, the
Tribunal shall cease to exist.
8.
Procedure to
be followed by the Tribunal.— The Tribunal shall, subject to any rules that
may be made in this behalf, have power to regulate its 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
Government, the Tribunal or any member thereof, or any
person acting under the direction either of Government or of the Tribunal in
respect of anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in
pursuance of this Ordinance or of any rules or orders made thereunder or in
respect of the publication, by or under the authority of Government or the
Tribunal, of any report, paper or proceedings.
10.
Members,
etc., to be public servants.— Every member of the Tribunal and every
officer appointed or authorised by the Tribunal to exercise functions under
this Ordinance shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of
section 21 of the Pakistan Penal Code[11].
11.
Conferment
of powers.— (1) Government may, by notification in the official Gazette,
and subject to such conditions or restrictions, if any, as may be mentioned in
the notification confer upon the Tribunal 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[12].
12.
Act to apply
to other inquiring authorities in certain cases.— Where any authority (by
whatever name called), other than a Tribunal appointed under section 3, has
been or is set up under any resolution or order of Government for the purpose
of making an inquiry into any definite matter of public importance and
Government is of opinion that any of the provisions of this Ordinance should be
made applicable to that authority, Government may, by notification in the
official Gazette, direct that the said provisions of this Ordinance shall apply
to that authority, and on the issue of such notification that authority shall
be deemed to be a Tribunal appointed under section 3 for the purpose of this
Ordinance.
13 Powers to frame
rules.— Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, make rules
to carry out the purposes of this Ordinance.
[1]
This Ordinance was promulgated by the Administrator, Martial Law, Zone ‘A’ on
10th April, 1969; published in the West Pakistan Gazette
(Extraordinary),
dated 14th April, 1969, pages 543-547; saved by Article 281 of the Interim
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (1972); and, validated by the
Validtion of Laws Act, 1975 (LXIII of 1975).
[2]
Substituted by the Punjab Laws (Adaptation) Order, 1974 (Pb A.O. 1 of 1974),
for “West Pakistan”. 3 Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4]
Substituted ibid., for “Government of
West Pakistan”.
[5]
Act V of 1908.
[6]
Act V of 1898.
[7]
Act XLV of 1860.
[8]
Act V of 1898.
[9]
Act XLV of 1860.
[10]
Act V of 1908.
[11]
Act XLV of 1860.
[12]
Act V of 1898.
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