Constitution 1973 § Article 172 — Ownerless property

Statutory text (English)

(1) Any property which has no rightful owner shall, if located in
a Province, vest in the Government of that Province, and in every other case, in the Federal
Government.

(2) All lands, minerals and other things of value within the continental shelf or underlying the
ocean 1[beyond] the territorial waters of Pakistan shall vest in the Federal Government.
2[
(3) Subject to the existing commitments and obligations, mineral oil and natural gas within
the Province or the territorial water adjacent thereto shall vest jointly and equally in that Province and
the Federal Government.]

Source and verification

Source citation: Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, Art. 172: Pakistan Code portal consolidated official PDF 'THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN' (incl. 26th Amdt Act 2024 & 27th Amdt Act 2025), p. 79, ingested 2026-09-15. Automated transcription from official source (pypdf extraction, audited artifact repair); human admin re-check required before production.

Verification status: verified · Text status: auto_transcribed_verified_source

The record cites an official source, but its transcription is automated or only partly checked; a human re-check is pending.

Official Urdu text status: pending_official_urdu_text. Where official Urdu wording has not been sourced, Qanoon does not substitute an unverified translation for the statutory text.

Historical text notes

1 historical record is linked to this section. Historical wording may be incomplete or pending verification; it is not presented as current law.

• Date not confirmed: Consolidated current text as published in the official Pakistan Code PDF (p. 79) — reflects all amendments recorded in the official footnotes up to ingest date 2026-09-15. Automated transcription; per-amendment version…

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