Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources Act, 2007

This 2007 Act formally establishes the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) as a body corporate headquartered in Islamabad, with the power to own property and sue or be sued in its own name (Section 3). The Council existed earlier under a government resolution, and Section 25 formally dissolves that older body and transfers all its assets, staff, debts, and legal proceedings to the new statutory Council.

Section 4 lays out the Council's job: conducting and coordinating research on all aspects of water resources, including irrigation, drainage, drinking water, industrial water, and sewerage management; developing water conservation technologies; running a national water quality monitoring programme; researching desertification, drought, and flood mitigation; maintaining a national water resources database; advising government on water policy; and commercialising its research results.

The Council is run by a Board of Governors (Sections 6-10), chaired by the Minister for Science and Technology, with representation from federal ministries, all four provinces, farmers, industry, and Parliament. Members other than ex-officio ones serve three-year terms, and the Board must meet at least twice a year with eight members forming a quorum. Section 11 requires the Council's Chairman to be an eminent scientist or engineer with at least 15 years of relevant experience, appointed by the Federal Government for a three-year term (renewable). The Chairman is the chief executive and works under an Executive Committee (Section 13) and Technical Advisory Committee (Section 14) that help set research priorities and oversee finances.

Section 15 lists the Council's funding sources -- government grants, donations, sale proceeds, patent income, and research grants -- while Section 17 requires its accounts to be audited by the Auditor General of Pakistan. Section 21 provides that any discoveries or inventions made by Council staff during their employment belong to the Council. Section 26 exempts the Council from income tax, and Section 27 exempts it from the Industrial Relations Ordinance, 2002. This is a relatively modern statute (amended as recently as 2023 for the appointments provision) and does not carry the kind of old-law amendment footnotes seen in colonial-era Acts.