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THE WEST PAKISTAN TRIBUNALS OF INQUIRY
ORDINANCE, 1969.
(W.P. Ord. No. II of 1969.)
[14th
April, 1969.]
CONTENTS
PREAMBLE
SECTIONS
1.
Short title, extent and commencement.
2.
Definitions.
3.
Appointment of Tribunal, Commission or Committee
of Inquiry.
4.
Powers of Tribunal.
5.
Additional powers of Tribunal.
6.
Statements made by persons to the Tribunal.
7.
Tribunal to cease to exist when so notified.
8.
Procedure to be followed by the Tribunal.
9.
Protection of action taken in good faith.
10.
Members etc., to be public servants.
11.
Conferment of powers.
12.
Act to apply to other inquiring authorities in
certain cases.
13.
Powers to frame rules.
THE WEST PAKISTAN TRIBUNALS OF INQUIRY
ORDINANCE, 1969.
(WEST PAKISTAN ORDINANCE NO. 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,
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WHEREAS it is expedient to provide for the appointment of
Tribunals of Inquiry and for vesting such Tribunals with certain powers.
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Preamble.
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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:-
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1.
(1) This Ordinance may be called the West Pakistan Tribunals of Inquiry
Ordinance, 1969.
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Short title, extent
and commencement.
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(2) It
extends to the whole of the [Province
of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa] except the
Tribal Areas.
(3) It shall
come into force at once.
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2.
In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires, the following
expressions shall have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them:-
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Definitions.
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(a)
"Government" means the Government of [Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa.]
(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 a Committee
of Inquiry appointed under the said section.
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3.
(1) Government may, if it is of the 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.
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Appointment of Trib-unal, Commission or Committee of inqui-ry.
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(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.
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4.
The Tribunal shall have the powers of a civil court, while trying a suit
under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, in respect of the following matters,
namely:—
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Power of Tribunal.
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(a)
summoning and enforcing the attendance of any 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.
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5.
(1) Where Government is of the 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.
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Additional powers of Tribunal.
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(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 accounts 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, 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, 180 or section 228 of the
Pakistan Penal Code, 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.
(5) Any
proceeding before the Tribunal shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding
within the meaning of section 193 and 228 of Pakistan Penal Code.
(6) The Tribunal 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.
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6.
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 proceedings except a prosecution for giving false evidence by such
statement:
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Statements made
by persons to the Tribunal.
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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.
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7. Government
may, if it is of opinion that the continued existence of 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.
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Tribunal to cease to
exist when so notif-ied.
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8.
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.
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Procedure to be fo-llowed
by the Trib-unal.
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9. 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, or of any report, paper or proceedings.
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Protection of action
taken in good faith.
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10.
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.
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Members ,etc, to be
public servants.
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11.
(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.
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Conferment of powers.
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(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.
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12.
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.
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Act to apply to other inquiring
authorities in certain cases.
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13.
Government may by notification in the official Gazette, make rules to carry
out the purposes of this Ordinance.
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Powers to frame rules.
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