Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Ordinance (PAEC), 1965

This 1965 Ordinance creates the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), the body responsible for the peaceful use of atomic energy in Pakistan, including nuclear power generation and nuclear applications in agriculture, medicine and industry. Section 3 sets up the Commission as a body corporate headquartered in Islamabad, with power to own property and to sue and be sued in its own name.

Section 4 lays out how the Commission is composed — a Chairman, a Finance Member, and several technical members appointed by the Federal Government — while Section 5 fixes normal terms of office at three years, renewable, and lets the government end an appointment at any time without giving a reason. Section 6 spells out the Commission's core functions: research and development work connected with peaceful atomic energy uses, and execution of nuclear power projects, all subject to Federal Government policy direction, which the government alone gets to decide is or isn't a "policy" matter.

Section 7 sets baseline governance rules for meetings (at least four a year, eight days' notice, quorum of four including the Chairman), and Section 10 lists the Commission's funding sources: government grants, donations, investment income and other receipts, with its accounts audited by the Auditor-General under Section 11. Section 13 lets the Commission hire its own officers and staff, subject to Federal Government oversight, and Section 17 vests in the Commission any discoveries or inventions made by its staff during their employment.

Section 19 gives the Federal Government power to make rules, and Section 20 lets the Commission make its own regulations with government approval. Section 23 dissolved the pre-existing Pakistan Atomic Energy Council (previously registered as a society) and transferred all its assets, staff, debts and pending lawsuits to the new Commission.

The extract shows many footnoted amendments ("Subs. by", "Ins. by", references to a 1974 amending Act and later changes through 2010) and repeated replacement of "Central Government" with "Federal Government" as Pakistan's constitutional terminology changed. Given its age and the volume of amendments, anyone relying on specific figures such as terms of office or the exact composition of the Commission should check the current official text.