Associated Press of Pakistan (Taking over) Ordinance, 1961 (Repeal by ordinance 20 of 2002,s.23))

This 1961 ordinance authorised the Central Government (later the Federal Government) to take over the Associated Press of Pakistan Limited, a news agency company that, according to its preamble, had suffered an administrative and financial breakdown and could no longer function; the government's stated aim was to ensure a free and efficient flow of news and put the organisation on a stable footing. Note: this document's own title indicates it was later repealed by Ordinance 20 of 2002, section 23, so it should be treated as historical rather than currently operative law, and its status should be confirmed against the current official text before relying on it.

Section 3 empowered the Federal Government to take over the entire undertaking of the Associated Press by Gazette notification. Once that happened, the company was dissolved for company-law purposes, and all its assets, property, cash, investments, debts, liabilities, and contracts transferred to and vested in the Federal Government; pending lawsuits by or against the company continued as if they were by or against the Government instead.

Section 4 required the Federal Government to manage the "undertaking" as a separate institution, with an appointed person taking possession of its properties, records, and documents and administering it on the Government's behalf, having regard to the free flow of information, organisational stability, supply of unbiased and reliable news, and expansion of the news service. Section 4(3) gave police power to seize the undertaking's property and, with a magistrate's warrant, search premises for it.

Section 5 anticipated that once the undertaking's finances and management were stabilised, the Federal Government would arrange for it to run on a permanent basis, potentially by transferring it to an individual, organisation, or a Board of Trustees, to ensure independent and efficient news service.

Section 7 preserved the jobs of existing officers and employees on their existing terms unless the Government directed otherwise, and exempted them from ordinary government-servant rules on pay, dismissal, and discipline. Section 8 required the Government to pay compensation to those who would have been entitled to any surplus if the assets exceeded liabilities, as if the company had been wound up normally. Section 6 allowed dues to be recovered as arrears of land revenue, and Section 10 barred lawsuits over anything done under the ordinance.