Federal political system resolve the problem of premature dissolutions of government in

4.3.4 The Third Constitution (1973 – Present) 
After the secession of East Pakistan, the new Pakistan adopted a new constitution 
in 1973 under the leadership of Zulfiqar Bhutto. The salient feature of the original 
constitution was that the prime minister was the chief executive. The legislature 
was bicameral and the president (as a ceremonial figurehead) did not have 
emergency powers, in contrast to the position with previous constitutions. Even 
though the legislature was bicameral, the issue of equal representation was not 
entirely addressed, as the upper house was indirectly elected by the provincial 
assemblies. Thus, it failed to demonstrate the key factor of equal representation.
The division of powers was based on co-ordination as opposed to separation of 
powers principles.
238
Although presidential emergency powers were no longer 
specifically granted in the new constitution, yet there were issues of self-interest, as 
Bhutto had established an 'authoritarian government and one man rule, though the 
façade was parliamentary'.
239
The researcher observes a similarity between US 
President Trump’s approach towards the government and that with Bhutto. Bhutto 
was, however, a public hero and instituted its first ever democratic parliamentary 
constitution. The similarity, therefore, between his autocracy and that arguably 
exerted by current US President Trump is therefore more superficial than real. 
Bhutto was, further, establishing new, untested, procedures. This autocracy 
nonetheless in the name of civilian rule ended in 1977 through another period of 
martial law instigated by General Zia, who dissolved the government and suspended 
the constitution.
240
The Act of General Zia was challenged by Mrs Bhutto in the 
Begum Nusrat Bhutto case.
241
The petition challenged the legality of detention of Mr Bhutto. The petition in this 
case stated that Mr Bhutto and the ten other leaders of the Pakistan People's Party 
were arrested and detained. General Zia made a public statement in which he made 
unfair and incorrect allegations against the Pakistan People's Party Government. 
He indicated his intention of placing the detainees before military tribunals for trial 
to enforce the principle of public accountability. The petition further averred that 
238
ibid. Co-ordination of power is used in the Pakistani constitutional context as a concept that is 
an opposite of absolute separation of powers. 
239
Sultana Tasneem, 'Montesquieu's Doctrine of Separation of Powers: A Case Study of Pakistan' 
(2012) 28(2) Journal of European Studies 66, 68. 
240
ibid. 
241
Begum Nusrat Bhutto vs Chief of Army staff [1977] PLD [1977] SC 657. 

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59 
his action was taken in a mala fide manner with the purpose of preventing the 
Pakistan People's Party from participating in the forthcoming elections.
242
The court admitted the petition and ordered immediate shifting of the detainees 
from Lahore to Rawalpindi. The admission of the petition might have been seen by 
General Zia as a potential threat, therefore he amended the Constitution of 1973.
243
Even prior to the proceedings and the decision in the Nusrat Bhutto case, the 
Supreme Court of Pakistan had not only accorded legitimacy to the martial law 
regime but had also acknowledged and recognized the inherent authority of that 
regime to amend the Constitution.
244
Khan was right to observe that the 
reconstituted Supreme Court by virtue of the amendment had ab initio accepted 
the lawful authority of the regime and recognized it as the new legislature.
245
The petition was eventually heard by a nine-judge bench headed by Chief Justice 
Sheikh Anwar-ul-Haq. The court dismissed the petition. The Supreme Court 
unanimously held that there was a serious political crisis in the country leading to 
a breakdown of the constitutional machinery for which the Constitution provided 
no solution. Not that he was bound to under the principle of stare decisis, but the 
Chief Justice applied the doctrine of necessity and deviated from the immediate