14/04/2014
The State Vs. Dosso & Others (PLD 1958 SC (PAK.) 533) On the 7th October 1958, President Iskander Mirza annulled the constitution of 1956, dismissed the Central and Provincial Legislatures, imposed Martial Law and took over the entire administrative and legislative machinery. Immediately thereafter Laws (Continuance in Force) Order 1958 was promulgated as a result of which laws, other than the Constitution of 1956, which were in force before the assumption of authority by Martial Law Administration, were validated and the jurisdiction of the Courts was restored. (PLD 1958 SC (PAK) 533) The Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Mohammad Munir, held that since Article 5 of the late Constitution (relating to Fundamental Rights) had disappeared from the new legal Order, the Frontier Crimes Regulation 1901 by reason of Act IV of Laws (Continuance in Force) Order 1958 was still in force and all proceedings in cases in which validity of that Regulation had been called in question having abated, the convictions recorded and references made to the Council of Elders were good. (Ibid. P. 542.) (PLD 1958 SC (PAK) 533) Where revolution is successful it satisfies the test of efficacy and becomes a basic law creating fact. On that assumption the Laws (Continuance in Force) Order, however transitory or imperfect, was a new legal order and it was in accordance with that order that the validity of the laws and the correctness of judicial decisions had to be determined. (Ibid. P. 540) (PLD 1958 SC (PAK) 533) The appeals were accordingly disposed of