Port Qasim Authority (PQA) Act, 1973

The Port Qasim Authority Act, 1973 creates the Port Qasim Authority, the body responsible for planning, developing, and managing Muhammad Bin Qasim Port at Phitti Creek near Karachi, along with associated facilities and industries (Section 4). The Authority is a body corporate that can own property and sue or be sued in its own name.

The Authority is run by a Board of three to seven members, including a Chairman, appointed by the Prime Minister for a term (originally set, later amended to three years) (Section 6). The Board must follow sound port planning principles and act on policy directions from the Federal Government, whose decision is final if there's a dispute over what counts as "policy" (Section 5).

Section 13 gives the Authority broad operational powers, and later sections let it prepare and amend master development schemes (Sections 10, 30), charge tolls and dues on cargo and vessels with a lien over goods and ships for unpaid charges (Sections 14-21), and recover unpaid amounts by distraining vessels or suing (Sections 21-23). A significant portion of the Act (Sections 34-49) deals with the Authority's power to acquire land needed for the port, including determining compensation for landowners through a Deputy Commissioner and a formal appeals process.

The Authority can borrow money (Section 32), maintains its own Fund (Section 55) with surplus amounts remitted to the Federal Consolidated Fund, and its accounts are audited (Section 57). Sections 58-62 create penalties for contravening the Act, and fines are credited to the Federal Consolidated Fund. Later insertions (Sections 71A-71C, added by later amendments) require the port to remain pollution-free, mandate environmental impact assessments for new projects, and impose penalties for pollution violations, though the extract does not state the specific penalty amount. Finally, Section 72 lets the Federal Government dissolve the Authority by notification, transferring its assets and liabilities to the Government.