Constitution 1973 § Article 48 — President to act on advice, etc

Statutory text (English)

(1) In the exercise of his functions, the President
shall act 2[on and] in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet 3[or the Prime Minister]:
3[
Provided that 2[within fifteen days] the President may require the Cabinet or, as the case may
be, the Prime Minister to reconsider such advice, either generally or otherwise, and the President shall
2[, within ten days,] act in accordance with the advice tendered after such reconsideration.]

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause

(1), the President shall act in his discretion
in respect of any matter in respect of which he is empowered by the Constitution to do so 3[and the
validity of anything done by the President in his discretion shall not be called in question on any ground
whatsoever].
3[* * * * * * *]
4[
(4) The question whether any, and if so what, advice was tendered to the President by the
Cabinet, or the Prime Minister, shall not be inquired into in, or by, any court, tribunal or other
authority.]
2[
(5) Where the President dissolves the National Assembly, notwithstanding anything
contained in clause

(1), he shall,—
(a) appoint a date, not later than ninety days from the date of the dissolution, for
the holding of a general election to the Assembly; and
(b) appoint a care-taker Cabinet 5[in accordance with the provisions of Article 224
or, as the case may be, Article 224A].]
2[
(6) If at any time the Prime Minister considers it necessary to hold a referendum on any matter
of national importance, he may refer the matter to a joint sitting of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament)
and if it is approved in a joint sitting, the Prime Minister may cause such matter to be referred to a
referendum in the form of a question that is capable of being answered by either “Yes” or “No”.]

(7) An Act of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) may lay down the procedure for the holding of a
referendum and the compiling and consolidation of the result of a referendum.]

Source and verification

Source citation: Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, Art. 48: Pakistan Code portal consolidated official PDF 'THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN' (incl. 26th Amdt Act 2024 & 27th Amdt Act 2025), p. 32, 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

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• Date not confirmed: Consolidated current text as published in the official Pakistan Code PDF (p. 32) — reflects all amendments recorded in the official footnotes up to ingest date 2026-09-15. Automated transcription; per-amendment version…

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