There are many amendments that have been done to the Constitution of Pakistan 1973. All Amendments in the Constitution of Pakistan 1973 are given in the following lines. The Constitution of Pakistan 1973 was enforced in the country on 14 August 1973. The Constitution of Pakistan 1973 was enforced in the entire country at once.
The then Prime Minister Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto said, ” this constitution is made for everlasting time”. But we have seen that since its inception to date the Constitution of Pakistan 1973 was amended from time to time for sake of the public and many a time for sake of personal satisfaction.
Till 2019 there are 25 amendments that have been made to the Constitution of 1973. Each amendment is defined in the following lines:
1st Amendment 1974
The first amendment was made after the first year of enforcement of the Constitution. In the First Amendment, the boundaries of Pakistan were reassessed.
The first amendment was made on May 4, 1974. In this amendment, article 01, 08, 17, 16, 101, 127, 193, 199, 200, 209, 212, 259, 260 and article 270 were amended.
Key Points of the 1st Amendment
Curb on Political Parties: Under these amendments, political parties were barred from indulging in activities against eh national interest, besides, making it mandatory for them to declare their sources of income.
Curtail Judicial Powers: Under the amendments, the power to transfer a judge of a high court into another high court was also acquired.
Removed Reference of East Pakistan: After recognizing Bangladesh, the word East Pakistan was scrapped from the Constitution.
2nd Amendment 1974
In the same year (1974) the second amendment was made and in which the “Qadiani” people were declared non-Muslims. The 2nd Amendment to the constitution defined Muslims for the purposes of the Constitution or law and declared the status of Qadians or Ahmadis as a Minority and non-Muslim.
In the second amendment, the amended articles of the Constitution of 1973 were 106 and 260.
Key Points of the 2nd Amendment
Qadianis were declared as a non-Muslim community and seats were reserved for them in assemblies. According to the amendment of article 260, “a person who does not believe in the absolute and unqualified finality of the Prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH) the last of the Prophet or claims to be a prophet, in any sense of the word or any description whatsoever, after Muhammad (PBUH), or recognizes such a claimant as a prophet or a religious reformer, is not a Muslim for the purpose of the Constitution or law.”
3rd Amendment 1975
The 3rd amendment was made on 13 February 1975 and thorough which extended the period of preventive detention, of those who are accused of committing serious cases of treason and espionage against the state of Pakistan.
In this amendment articles,10 and 232 of the constitution were amended.
Key Points of the 3rd Amendment
Under this 3rd amendment, the executive was authorized to arrest and detain persons involved in activities against national security for any period of time. The executive was also authorized to impose an emergency in the country through the joint sessions of the parliament.
4th Amendment 1975
The 4th Amendment was made on November 21, 1975. The amendment was made to enhance the seats for minorities in Parliament.
Under this 4th amendment to the constitution, articles 8, 17, 19, 51, 54, 106, 119, 271, 272, and 273 were amended.
Key Points of the 4th Amendment
Under these amendments, laws pertaining to fundamental rights were diluted and high courts were barred from allowing bail to political detainees.
5th Amendment 1976
The 5th Amendment was adopted on 5 September 1976, by the elected Parliament of Pakistan under the democratic government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
The 5th Amendment widens the scope of restriction on the Pakistan High Courts,to strip powers of the High Courts, to enforce the grants of natural fundamental rights explained in Chapter I, Part II of the Constitution.
Through the 5th amendment government of Pakistan imposed sales tax and import tax on many consumer products. This 5th amendment also restricted the governors or chief ministers to hold seats out of their own elected provinces.
The maximum age of the Chief Justice, as well as the term of office of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, was also set in the 5th amendment.
In 5th amendment to the Contitution of 1973; articles 106, 160, 175, 179, 180, 187, 192, 195, 196, 199, 200, 204, 206, 212, 260, 280 were amended.
Through these amendments the government impaired upon the working of an independent judiciary. The high court was stripped of the power to issue order on fundamental rights. Among amended articles, 10 pertained to judiciary.
6th Amendment 1976
The democratic government of Zulifqar Ali Bhutto amended the constitution 6th time and in this amendment, they stated that the Chief Justice of Pakistan will be retired at the age of 65 and the Chief Justice of High Courts will be retired at the age of 62.
In the 6th amendment, articles 179, 195, 246, and 260 were amended.
7th Amendment 1977
On 16 May 1977, the Constitution of Pakistan was amended 7th time. It happened just one month before the end of the government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Through this amendment, an elected Prime Minister can obtain avote of confidence from the people’s elected members of Parliament. The Prime Minister can also hold a referendum if he fails to get the vote of confidence.
In 7th amendment to the constitution of 1973 articles 101 and 245 were amended.
8th Amendment 1985
The first 7 amendments in the constitution were made by the first parliamentary government of PPP in the country.
After that Martial law was enforced in the country. The 8th amendment was made by the Dictator Zia-ul-Haq and gave extra powers to the President of Pakistan.
In the 8th Amendment, the Presidential Form of government was also introduced. With 8th amendment, articles 48, 51, 56, 58, 59, 60, 75, 90, 91, 101, 105, 106, 112, 116, 130, 144, 152-A, 270-A were amended.
Key Points in 8th Amendment
Under this amendment the parliament system of governance was tilted towards quasi-presidential. The President was empowered to dissolve the National Assembly, appoint services chiefs of the armed forces and governors and designate the Prime Minister.
9th Amendment 1985
Through the 9th Amendment, the government imposed sharia law as the supreme law of the country by amending Articles 2, 203B, and 203D of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973.
10th Amendment 1987
10th Amendment made it clear that there will be no more than 130 days gap between sessions of the Parliament and Senate. It was enacted on 29 March 1987.
11th Amendment 1989
The 11th Amendment was presented on 31 August 1989 and it sought to restore the seats for Women in the National Assembly to 20. Later on, this bill was withdrawn after the government assured that the government will do this task very soon.
12th Amendment 1991
The Expeditious justice courts for high treason criminal was established for a period of 3 years.
13th Amendment 1997
In the 13th Amendment, the powers of the President to dismiss the Prime Minister and to dissolve the national assembly were stripped off.
14th Amendment 1997
By the 14th Amendment, the political party leaders received unlimited powers to dismiss any member of the parliament if they acted against the theory of the Party or do anything against the party.
15th Amendment 1998
The bill was presented to impose Sharia law in the country.
16th Amendment 1999
With the 16th Amendment, article 27 of the Constitution of Pakistan was amended to give a representation of minorities and imposed a quota for the next 40 years. The limit of this quota was 10 years before this amendment.
17th Amendment 2003
The President of Pakistan by the power of the 17th amendment holds unlimited powers.
18th Amendment 2010
In the 18th Amendment, the name of NWFP province was changed to KPK. Article 6 in the constitution was introduced. The power of the President to dissolve the national assembly vanished.
19th Amendment 2010
The 19th Amendment defined the rules and regulations for the appointment of the Judges of the Islamabad High Court and the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
20th Amendment 2012
The Office of Chief Election Commissioner was changed to the Election Commission of Pakistan in the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan.
21st Amendment 2015
After the incident of APS Peshawar, the Military Courts in the Country was established by the 21st Amendment.
22nd Amendment 2016
In the 22nd Amendment, the rules and regulations for the post of the Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan were changed. Now the Beauruacrats and technocrats can also become a member of the election commission of Pakistan.
23rd Amendment 2017
In 2015 the Military courts were established for a period of 2 years. Now in 23rd Amendment, this period was extended to another 2 years.
24th Amendment 2017
With the 24th Amendment in 2017, the constituencies have been restructured based on the census results.
25th Amendment 2018
Federal Administrative Tribal Area (FATA) was merged with KPK. In 25th Amendment, the FATA was merged with KPK solely for the purpose of giving the people of FATA their due right and to facilitate the people of FATA better.
Conclusion
So, these are the total amendments made in the Constitution of Pakistan 1973. Till now Constitution of Pakistan was amended 25 times since its inception. Still, there is a lot that has been left to be corrected or amended which we will see in the near future.
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