Pakistan National Service Ordinance, 1970

The Pakistan National Service Ordinance, 1970 introduced a system of compulsory national service for young male citizens of Pakistan, requiring them to serve for a period in the country's Defence Services.

Section 3 makes every male citizen who has turned 18 but not yet 20, and who has at least a matriculation-level education, liable to render national service. Such persons had to offer themselves for national service within one month of qualifying (whether by turning 18 while already a matriculate, or becoming a matriculate after turning 18). Section 3(4) exempts people who are already members of the Defence Services, civilian armed forces, or police, or who work in ordnance factories, as well as those in essential services or students of medical, engineering, or veterinary institutions who are formally exempted by government notification.

Section 4 allows a student's liability to be deferred while they study, with the maximum age for being called up extended by the deferred period. Section 5 describes the selection and enrolment process: a person can be required to report, and if selected, will render national service for one year in the Army, Navy, or Air Force, subject to the relevant service law (Pakistan Army Act, Navy Ordinance, or Air Force Act) and receiving a prescribed honorarium and other facilities (not salary).

After completing national service, Section 6 places a person on the National Service Reserve until age 35, during which they can be called up for refresher training each year (15 to 30 days per Section 7) or for further service in their Defence Service (Section 8) until age 35, unless they consent to stay on longer. Section 9 entitles exempted, deferred, or completed-service individuals to a certificate proving their status, and Section 10 requires anyone liable for national service without such a certificate to obtain government permission before leaving Pakistan. Sections 12-13 place obligations on employers: they cannot employ someone liable for national service who lacks a certificate, and must treat time spent on refresher training as normal service, without dismissing the employee or cutting their pay for it.

Section 14 makes violations -- including failing to render service, failing to comply with notices, leaving Pakistan without permission, or an employer breaching Sections 12-13 -- punishable with imprisonment up to three years, a fine up to fifteen thousand rupees, or both, and bars a convicted person from holding government or other prescribed employment. Section 16 bars courts, including the High Courts and Supreme Court, from reviewing orders or proceedings under this Ordinance. This is an older law (1970, validated as duly made under the Validation of Laws Act, 1975) whose practical operation today (whether it is actively enforced) is not addressed in the extract.