Provisional Constitutional Order
The Provisional Constitutional Order, popularly known as PCO, is an emergency and extra-constitutional order that suspends either wholly or partially the Constitution of Pakistan— the supreme law of land.
The PCO fulfills and act as the temporary order while the constitution is held in abeyance or suspension. Mostly, the orders have been enforced during the times of the martial law imposed by the armed forces of the country against the civilian governments.
Overview of Provisional Constitutional Order
Provisional Constitutional Order, 1981
Soon after the martial law went into immediate effect in 1977, the constitution of Pakistan was suspended. The first PCO was declared on 24 March 1981 by then-President and chief of army staff General Zia-ul-Haq. It was the first PCO having declared by the President General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in the history of the country.Under this new order, the senior justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan were asked to take an oath of office under the provisions set by the PCO. On March 1981, President Zia terminated 19 senior justices of the supreme court when they refused to take the oath. Chief Justice Dorab Patel and Senior justice Fakhrauddin Ebrahim declined to take the oath; thus opting for retirement. Senior justice Anwarul Haq also resigned after refusing to take the oath whilst the Senior justice Mushtaq Hussain who was willing to take the oath was not asked to do so.
Senior justices Hussain and Haq had previously approved Bhutto's hanging were reportedly restrained to take an oath under the secretive directives issued by President Zia. All of these Senior justices were asked to tender their resignation, which they did.
Provisional Constitutional Order effecting the Judicature of Pakistan
| Senior Justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan | Oath of Office | Extension under PCO |
| Chief Justice Dorab Patel | ||
| Chief Justice Anwarul Haq | ||
| Senior Justice Fakhruddin Ebrahim | ||
| Senior Justice Abdul Qadir Shakih | ||
| Senior Justice Mohammad Haleem | ||
| Senior Justice K.I. Chouhann | ||
| Senior Justice Aslam Riaz Husain | ||
| Senior Justice Nasim Shah | ||
| Senior Justice Shafi-u-Rehman | ||
| Senior Justice Maulvi Mushtaq Hussain | ||
| Senior Justice M.A. Zulla | ||
| Senior Justice Agha Ali Hyder | ||
| Senior Justice Abdul Hayee Qureshi | ||
| Senior Justice Abdul Hafeez Memon | ||
| Senior Justice Zaffar Hussain Mirza | ||
| Senior Justice Naimuddin Ahmed | ||
| Senior Justice S.A. Nusrat | ||
| Senior Justice G. M. Shah | ||
| Senior Justice Ajmal Mian | ||
| Senior Justice Muhammad Zahoor-ul-Haq | ||
| Senior Justice Sajjad A. Shah | ||
| Senior Justice Ghous Ali Shah | ||
| Senior Justice Tanzil-ur-Rahman | ||
| Senior Justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui | ||
| Senior Justice G.M. Kourejo | ||
| Senior Justice Nasir A. Zahid | ||
| Senior Justice K.A. Ghani | ||
| Senior Justice Saleem Akhtar |
Provisional Constitutional Order, 1999
Political tensions arising after the border incidents with India that nearly pushed the two countries at the brink of the war, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and chief of army staff General Pervez Musharraf immediately imposed the martial law against government of Prime minister Nawaz Sharif, on 14 October 1999.General Musharraf effectively imposed the state of emergency and suspended the constitution after introducing the provisional order. Nearly, all Senior justices were forcefully required to take an oath of office under this new order, and concerns were raised that this would "erode the independence of the judiciary".
Provisional Constitutional Order effecting the Judicature of Pakistan
| Senior Justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan | Oath of Office | Extension under PCO | - |
| Chief Justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui | |||
| Senior Justices Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry | - | ||
| Senior Justices Bashir Jehangiri | - | ||
| Senior Justices I. Hussain Khan | - | ||
| Senior Justices Sh. Riaz Ahmad | - | ||
| Senior Justices Mamoon A Kazi | - | ||
| Senior Justices Nasir A. Zahid | - | ||
| Senior Justices K.R. Khan | - | ||
| Senior Justices | - | ||
| Senior Justices Wajihuddin Ahmed | - | ||
| Senior Justices Kamal Mansur Alam | - | ||
| Senior Justices A.R. Khan | - | ||
| Senior Justices Ch. Mohammad Arif | - | ||
| Senior Justices Munir Sheikh | - |
Provisional Constitutional Order, 2007
In 2007, another Provisional Constitutional Order was issued by General Pervez Musharraf. The PCO was issued on November 3, 2007 and later amended on November 15, 2007. It was lifted on December 16, 2007.Supreme Court of Pakistan
- Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry
- Rana Bhagwandas
- Javed Iqbal
- Abdul Hameed Dogar
- Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan
- Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday
- Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi
- Faqir Muhammad Khokhar
- Falak Sher
- Shakir Ullah Jan
- M Javed Butter
- Tassaduq Hussain Jillani
- Saiyed Saeed Ashhad
- Nasir ul Mulk
- Raja Fayyaz
- Chaudhry Ejaz Ahmed
- Syed Jamshed Ali
- Ghulam Rabbani
- Hamid Ali Mirza