Companies (Appointment of Trustees) Act, 1972

This Act lets the Federal Government take control of the management of certain companies by appointing a government trustee, where the company's registered office is in Pakistan but outside the provinces of Baluchistan, the North-West Frontier, the Punjab, and Sind, and the government considers this necessary in the public interest. Section 2 makes the Act override the Companies Act, 1913 and any other law, agreement, or company constitution document.

Section 4 lets the Federal Government appoint a trustee by Gazette notification on terms it decides; the trustee serves at the government's pleasure and may resign in writing. Section 5 vests the company's management, assets, and liabilities relating to its business in that trustee once appointed, removing the powers of anyone who previously managed those affairs; the trustee must open a National Bank of Pakistan account for company funds and keep proper accounts. The Federal Government can also remove any company officer performing management functions once a trustee is appointed.

Section 6 requires all company assets to be handed over to the trustee, and Section 7 gives the trustee all the powers of the company's Board of Directors over the relevant assets and liabilities. Section 8 voids any unauthorised transfer of company assets once a trustee is appointed. Sections 9 and 10 set out how the company's liabilities are determined and require debts owed to the company to be paid to the trustee instead. Section 11 bars anyone except the Federal Government from instructing the trustee.

Section 12 is a strong bar-of-jurisdiction clause: courts cannot question, injunct, or entertain proceedings about anything done under this Act, and no suit lies against the government, the trustee, or anyone acting in good faith under it.

This is an old law from 1972 whose province names (Baluchistan, the North-West Frontier, the Punjab, and Sind) reflect pre-1970s administrative terminology, and its own repeal clause was itself omitted by a 1981 ordinance; anyone relying on it should check whether it remains operative and how its scope maps onto current provincial boundaries and nomenclature.