Pakistan Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1956 (Repeal by act iX of 2017 s.19)

The Pakistan Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1956 provided the legal basis for the government to set up formal Commissions of Inquiry to investigate matters of public importance, and gave those commissions court-like powers. Section 3 allows the Federal Government to appoint a Commission - made up of one or more members - by notification in the official Gazette to inquire into a specified matter within a specified time.

Section 4 gives every Commission the powers of a Civil Court trying a case: summoning and examining witnesses on oath, requiring the production of documents, receiving evidence on affidavit, and issuing commissions to examine witnesses elsewhere. Section 5 allows the government to grant additional powers where warranted, including requiring any person to furnish relevant information, authorising search and seizure of documents (subject to Criminal Procedure Code safeguards), and treating certain obstructive conduct as an offence under the Pakistan Penal Code. A later-added Section 4A gives a Commission headed by a Supreme Court or High Court judge the same contempt powers as a High Court, covering interference with the Commission's process, scandalising the Commission, or otherwise prejudicing its work - subject to a proviso protecting fair comment made in good faith.

Section 6 protects witnesses: statements made before a Commission cannot be used against the person in other civil or criminal proceedings (except for a prosecution for giving false evidence). Section 9 gives the government, the Commission, and its members immunity from lawsuits for actions taken in good faith, and Section 10 makes Commission members and officers "public servants" under the Penal Code. A later-added Section 10A allows the government to empower a Commission to order a police investigation into a matter before it. Section 11 lets the government extend the Act's provisions to other, differently-named inquiry bodies it has set up.

Important note: as flagged in the title and the extract's footnote, this Act was repealed by Act IX of 2017, Section 19(1) - though it remains in force for the specific purpose of Article 155 of the Constitution (inter-provincial water disputes). Given both its age and this partial repeal, anyone relying on this law for a current inquiry should verify its present legal status and check whether the newer 2017 law applies instead.