Basic Principle Committee (1949 to 1952)
1. Background
After passing the objective resolution, the first Constituent
Assembly of Pakistan formed the Basic Principle Committee
on March 12, 1949. This committee was headed by Liaqat Ali
Khan and Maulvi Tameez-ud-din and included 24 members in
it.
2. Aim & Objective
The Basic Principles Committee’s mission was to identify the
fundamental principles that will support Pakistan’s future
constitution.
It included three sub-committees:
▪ Federal and provincial Committee,
▪ Franchise Committee
▪ Judicial Committee
These committees were responsible for making a
recommendation in the field of their expertise. “The Basic
Principle Committee’s first interim report was submitted on
September 28, 1950.”
3. Attributes of 1st report
Essential characteristics of this report were:
Objective Resolution should be included in the constitution and
the
guiding principle of state policy.
▪ There should be a single federation in Pakistan.
▪ There should be a Bicameral central legislature.
▪ The federation included the upper House (House of Unit) and
lower house (House of People), with 400 members.
▪ During the election of the lower house, the people will come from
franchises. The two houses’ tenure was five years, and the two
had the same power.
▪ In joint meetings of the two houses, decisions concerning budgets
or monetary bills were decided.
▪ The federal parliament had all the powers and rights to remove
the Head of State.
▪ Every province should have a separate parliament; it would be
elected for a five-year term based on adult franchise.
4. Splitting of Legislative Power into three lists
1. The federal government’s list of 67 issues is to be addressed by
the federal legislature.
2. The provincial legislature would legislate 35-item.
3. The 37 items for which both the federal and provincial legislatures
have legislative authority. Remaining Power was given to center.
4. Attributes of Basic Principle Committee
▪ The constitution was to be interpreted by the Supreme Court
when a dispute arose.
▪ The Constitutional amendment procedure was very rigid; the
Central and Provincial Legislatures had to obtain a majority
approval.
▪ Additional powers like the abrogation of the constitution have
been given to the Head of State.
▪ The Supreme Court was the highest in the legal system. It is
made up of two to six judges, as well as the Chief Justice. Each
province will have its high court.
▪ Urdu was to be the state language.
▪ The Board of Ulama would be appointed by the Head of State
and provincial governors to review the legislative process and
ensure that legislation complies with the Quran and Sunnah.
5. Criticism on the Report of basic principles committee
In the first basic principles committeereport, the majority of
Pakistan’s population is believed to have been unsatisfactory. The
public criticized it from various angles; it was argued that the
constitutional structure was incomplete. Opposition parties from
East Pakistan issued a Joint Declaration claiming that “the
majority of East Pakistan in both the central parliamentary
chambers should be reduced to a majority in addition to the
provincial government’s powers.” On this occasion, the United
Front demanded Bengali as the official language.
Religious groups criticized it as less Islamic. Therefore, Political
unrest was created in the country. Liaquat Ali Khan intervened
on this occasion and assured people that this report was not final.
The interim report was published in November 1950 according
to the proposed procedure. In the next stage, public submissions
were invited from all over the country until January 31, 1951.
6. Second Interim Report of the Basic Principle
Committee (1952)
The committee submitted its second report on July 8, 1952, and
examined the Recommendations. On December 22,
1952, Khawaja Nazimuddin presented this report in the
Assembly. This report was signed by seventeen committee
members, including Mulvi
Tameezuddin, Chattopadhyaya, Mulana Mohammed Akram
Khan, Nurul Amin, Mumtaz Dultana, Rahan Schahnawaz, A.
S. Pirzada, Abdur Rab Nishtar, and Abdul Qaiyum of Khan.
Seventeen members of the Commission signed the report. It
comprised 16 schedules, 225 sections, and two timetables.
7. Salient Features of 2nd Interim Report of basic
principles committee
▪ As a preamble to the proposed constitution, the Objective
Resolution was adopted as a principles guide of state. Every
legislation will be according to Quran and the Sunnah.
▪ The Head of State should be Muslim and elected for 5 years by
the two chambers of the federal parliament.
▪ All provinces, capitals, and federations have been specified in the
Word Unit. For a term of 5 years, the head of these units had to
be chosen.
▪ The House of Units was made up of 120 members by the Federal
Parliament, composed of two houses. Following the principle of
proportional participation, the East Bengal parliament was to elect
60 members, and the remaining members were to be elected by
the same rule from West Pakistan. The People’s House had
absolute authority, consisting of 400 members, 200 from West,
and 200 East Pakistan members.
▪ The Head of State could promulgate ordinances when the Federal
Parliament was not in session. On the advice of the Minister, the
Head of State might dissolve the People’s Chamber.
▪ The Head of State appointed the chief justice of the Supreme
Court, and the Chief Justice recommendations also appointed six
other judges.
▪ The federal public officers and anti-dismissal units also received
guarantees, and the rank reduction was not allowed to showcase.
8. Criticism on the Report of basic principles committee
▪ The proposal ignored the fact that East Pakistan had a more
significant part of the country’s population than West Pakistan.
▪ The bill made the bottom building a weak replica and reduced its
usefulness. It did not also consider the fact that in a joint session,
both chambers could not resolve the conflict.
▪ It was also criticized in the first report, but Punjab this time
criticized the federal formula as defective. They demanded equal
representation and equal power for different units in the lower
house. The Punjab members of the Committee of Basic Principles
and the Cabinet did not like the wording because they believed
East Pakistan would easily dominate the unit of Western Pakistan.
▪ The Islamic character of the Constitution recommendation,
especially concerning the demand for Ahmadis’ declaration as
non-Muslims, was not satisfied by religious leaders. A request to
remove Ahmadis from the key positions, including Zafar-ullah
Khan (the foreign Minister), was presented in July 1952 during
the All-Pakistan Muslim Party Convention held in Lahore.
Nizamuddin supported the demand and did not want to include
him in the Committee on Basic Principle report.
1) Preface
rights of the citizens of the state.
Republic Pakistan’s constitution of 1973 the list of fundamental
rights has been given it
has also been clarified that any objectionable law under
fundamental rights will be
considered null and void because every democratic state
recognizes fundamental rights
for its citizen.
