First Constituent Assembly of Pakistan
(1947-1954)
Formation:
The First Constituent Assembly of Pakistan came into existence under the Indian Independence
Act 1947, at the time of independence.
Its roots went back to 1946 when elections for the constituent assembly of United India
were held to decide the destiny of the All India Muslim League. The first meeting of the
constituent assembly of united India was held on 19th December 1946.
However, Muslim League boycotted it since they demanded a separate constituent
assembly for Pakistan. With the acceptance of the 3rd June plan, a separate constituent
assembly was formulated for Pakistan.
Inauguration:
The inaugural session of the first constituent assembly of Pakistan was held in Karachi in
August 1947.
Mr. J.N. Mandal was elected as temporary chairman of the Constituent Assembly of
Pakistan.
Jinnah was elected as the president of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, on
11th August 1947.
Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan was elected as its Deputy President.
Members:
The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan functioned from 1947 to 1954 and involved two major
parties
1. The Muslim League representing all Muslims except for a few.
2. The Congress Party representing the twelve million Hindus in Pakistan.
There were 69 members in the constituent assembly; this number was increased to 79 later to
give representation to princely states and refugees.
There was a clear majority of Muslim League in the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan,
with 60 members out of the total 79.
The second major party was Pakistan National Congress with 11 members;
The third party was the Azad Group with 3 members, a number which later decreased to
1.
Members of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan were simultaneously allowed to take seats of
Provincial assembly or they can be Chief Ministers or members of Central or Provincial Cabinet.
The mode of elections was based on separate electorates.
Functions:
Under the Indian Independence Act Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was given two tasks
To prepare a Constitution :
As a constitution-making body, it was completely independent.
To act as the federal/central legislature.
Could amend the independence act by a simple majority
Can pass laws
No law could be made without its approval.
Every bill that was passed needed to be signed by the President of the Constituent
Assembly of Pakistan.
Method:
The first constituent assembly set up several committees to carry out its tasks.
1. Most important of these was the Basic Principles Committee;
It was assigned the task to report per the Objectives Resolution on the main principles
by which the constitution of Pakistan was to be framed.
Basic Principles Committee set up three sub-committees and a special committee
named Talimaat-i-Islamia which consisted of scholars to advice on the religious matters
arising out of Objectives Resolution.
Basic Principles Committee submitted its interim report in September 1950 and the final
report in December 1952.
2. Another important committee of the Constituent Assembly was on the ‘Fundamental
Rights of the Citizens of Pakistan’ and on ‘Matters Relating to Minorities’.
It divided itself into two sections, one dealing with fundamental rights and the other with
matters relating to minorities.
The interim report of this committee was adopted by Constituent Assembly in 1950 and
the final report in 1954.
3. The State Negotiating Committee, which dealt with the question of representation of
princely states,
4. The Tribal Areas Negotiating Committee, dealing with matters related to tribal areas.
Hurdles:
The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was not able to work properly because its seats
remained empty and some members migrated to India.
Though there was no opposition in the Constituent Assembly there were groups that were
critical of the League.
On the left was Iftikharuddin a former congressman and a communist.
On right were the religious critics like Maulana Shabir Ahmad Osmani.
Achievement:
The progress of the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan can be summed up as follows:
12 March 1949 – Objectives Resolution passed by the Constituent Assembly on aims and
objectives of the future constitution. This report was well received by the citizens of
Pakistan.
7 September 1950 – the interim report of the Basic Principles Committee was presented
to the constituent assembly. This step however marked the beginning of the decline in the
popularity of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. This report was criticized mainly by
East Pakistan.
6 October 1950 – interim report of the Committee on Fundamental Rights of the Citizens
of Pakistan matters relating to Minorities was adopted by Constituent Assembly of
Pakistan. This report got a comparatively better response.
22 December 1952 – the final report of the Basic Principles Committee was presented.
This report was also criticized, because of opposition in Punjab.
7 October 1953 – Constitutional impasse was over and formation of the federal
legislature was resolved by the ‘Muhammad Ali Formula’. This report was widely
welcomed and helped the Constituent Assembly regain popularity.
21 September 1954 – the Basic Principles Committees’ revised Report was approved by
the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.
Termination:
The final sketch of the constitution was prepared and the Constituent Assembly was near
to the completion of its purpose. But at this point, the Constituent Assembly was
suspended by Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad, on 24th October 1954.
He stated that the Constituent Assembly had lost the confidence of the people; this ruined
the efforts of the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan which had been working towards
formulating a viable constitution for seven years.