| Citation(s) |
|---|
| 1957 SLG 126 1957 SLD 126 = 1956 PLD 1 |
Baghdad ul Jadid
Criminal Miscellaneous Case No. 13 of 1957 (Bahawal pur), decided on 7th May 1957, case referred by Mustafa Nawaz Khan, City Magistrate Bahawalpur, for determining the question of jurisdiction.
Before Shabir Ahmad, J
M. Anwar, A. A. G. assisted by Maqbool Ahmad, Special P. P. for Petitioner. Malik Muhammad Din for
Respondent.
Criminal Miscellaneous Case No. 13 of 1957 (Bahawal pur), decided on 7th May 1957, case referred by Mustafa Nawaz Khan, City Magistrate Bahawalpur, for determining the question of jurisdiction.
Before Shabir Ahmad, J
M. Anwar, A. A. G. assisted by Maqbool Ahmad, Special P. P. for Petitioner. Malik Muhammad Din for
Respondent.
THE STATE-Petitioner
VERSUS
SAID AHMAD-Respondent
Law: Establishment of West Pakistan Act, 1955
Section: 10 (1)
P L D 1957 (W. P.) Baghdad-ul-Jadid 1 Establishment of West Pakistan Act, 1955, S. 10 (1)--- Bahawalpur laws continue to apply to persons in area which formed the Bahawalpur State before its integration into West Pakistan-Offences under S. 409, P. P. C. committed by a public servant of Bahawalpur State triable by Magistrate as before and not by Special Judge under the Pakistan Criminal Law Amendment Act (XIX of 1948) (as amended) Constitution of Pakistan, Arts. 110 (1) and 224 (1). Held, that immediately before the 23rd of March 1956, the law in force in the districts of Rahimyar Khan, Bahawal pur and Bahawalnagar, which before the 14th of October 1955, comprised the Bahawalpur States, was that offences under section 409 of the Penal Code were triable by ordinary Courts of criminal jurisdiction, and because of section 10 (1) of the Establishment of West Pakistan Act. 1955 and Article 224 of the new Constitution that law will continue in force unless it is altered by some lawful means. Cases under section 409 of the Penal Code which were pending against the accused in the Court of the City Magistrate, Bahawalpur, on the 14th October 1955, continue to be triable by ordinary criminal Courts in spite of the enactment of the Establishment of West Pakistan Act, 1955, and of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Article 110 (1) of the Constitution does not apply to such cases because that Article is a piece of legislation and not a principle of law, and, further, because provisions in a constitutional enactment are prospective in operation unless otherwise indicated. Move over, the laws in force immediately before the coming into force of the new Constitution in areas which comprised the Bahawalpur State cannot be deemed to be Acts of a Provincial Legislature because they do not fall within the definition of "Acts of a Provincial Legislature" given in Article 218 of the new Constitution and the mere fact that they had local application in a part of a Province does not make them Acts of a Provincial Legislature. Dates of hearing: 19th & 22nd March; 16th & 17th…