National Zakat Foundation (Merger in Bait-ul-Mal) Ordinance, 2001

This 2001 Ordinance merges the National Zakat Foundation — originally set up by a 1982 government notification — into the Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal, the state welfare fund established under the Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal Act, 1991. It was issued by the President during the period when the National Assembly and Senate were suspended following the 1999 emergency proclamation.

Section 3 is the operative merger provision: as of the "appointed day" (31 March 2001), all of the Foundation's assets, properties, debts, rights, and liabilities pass to the Bait-ul-Mal, which also takes over the Foundation's contracts, bonds, agreements, and powers of attorney as if it had been a party to them from the start. Any pending lawsuits or legal proceedings involving the Foundation continue against or on behalf of the Bait-ul-Mal instead, without interruption.

Section 4 handles what happens to the Foundation's staff. Every employee (including those on deputation elsewhere) is automatically transferred to the Bait-ul-Mal on their existing terms, pay, and pension rights. An employee on deputation could opt, within three months, to formally join the Bait-ul-Mal on those terms. Alternatively, within the same three-month window, an employee could opt out of the transfer entirely — in which case their service would be treated as terminated due to abolition of their post, entitling them to three months' pay as compensation (on top of any pension or provident fund benefits), but with no further compensation claim once they had exercised that option.

This is a narrow, administrative ordinance whose practical effect (the merger itself) was a one-time event that occurred in 2001; it remains relevant mainly for historical reference on how the National Zakat Foundation's obligations and staff were absorbed into the Bait-ul-Mal.