Constitution 1973 § Article 17 — Freedom of association

Statutory text (English)

(1) Every citizen shall have the right to form associations or
unions, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of sovereignty or integrity
of Pakistan, public order or morality.

(2) Every citizen, not being in the service of Pakistan, shall have the right to form or be a
member of a political party, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the
sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan and such law shall provide that where the Federal Government
declares that any political party has been formed or is operating in a manner prejudicial to the
sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan, the Federal Government shall, within fifteen days of such
declaration, refer the matter to the 2[Federal Constitutional Court of Pakistan] whose decision on such
reference shall be final.

(3) Every political party shall account for the source of its funds in accordance with law.]

Source and verification

Source citation: Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, Art. 17: Pakistan Code portal consolidated official PDF 'THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN' (incl. 26th Amdt Act 2024 & 27th Amdt Act 2025), p. 24, 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. 24) — reflects all amendments recorded in the official footnotes up to ingest date 2026-09-15. Automated transcription; per-amendment version…

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