{ "schema_version": "qanun-law-text/1", "id": "punjab-code-d8e264128abbd7a9", "title": "PUNJAB UNDESIRABLE COMPANIES ORDINANCE, 1959", "source_collection": "Punjab", "content_kind": "stored_law_text", "content_extent": null, "source_url": "https://punjabcode.punjab.gov.pk/en/show_article/BDEFNgI8UWY-", "version": null, "source_snapshot": "2026-08-06T17:01:14Z", "legal_status": "not independently verified", "text_quality": "Complete stored UTF-8 TXT file recovered byte-for-byte from owned Drive. Source transcription retained verbatim; legal completeness, OCR accuracy and current consolidation unverified.", "text_sha256": "b375beb588ef8ddc6b679f8edb27e3fa1e136a6525f955a0f873dde45cdabdab", "source_sha256": "b375beb588ef8ddc6b679f8edb27e3fa1e136a6525f955a0f873dde45cdabdab", "text_version_id": "law:punjab-code-d8e264128abbd7a9:sha256:b375beb588ef8ddc6b679f8edb27e3fa1e136a6525f955a0f873dde45cdabdab", "quality_flags": [], "encoding": "UTF-8", "text": "THE PUNJAB UNDESIRABLE COMPANIES ORDINANCE, \r\n1959 \r\n(XXII of 1959) \r\nCONTENTS \r\n1. Short title and extent. \r\n2. Definitions. \r\n3. Registration of undesirable companies prohibited. \r\n4. Existing undesirable Companies to cease functioning. \r\n5. Deposit of cash and preservation of assets, etc. \r\n6. Statement of assets, etc., to be submitted to registrar. \r\n7. Winding up undesirable companies. \r\n8. Dissolution of undesirable companies. \r\n9. Power to call for certain information, etc. \r\n10. Offences to be cognizable. \r\n11. Cognizance by court with the consent of registrar. \r\n12. Power to make rules. \r\n \r\nTEXT \r\n1\r\nTHE \r\n2\r\n[PUNJAB] UNDESIRABLE COMPANIES ORDINANCE, 1959 \r\n(XXII of 1959) \r\n[22 April 1959] \r\nAn \r\nOrdinance \r\nto prohibit the registration of companies for carrying on business for certain \r\nundesirable purposes and to provide for the winding up and dissolution of such \r\ncompanies. \r\nPreamble.– WHEREAS it is expedient to prohibi t the registration of companies for \r\ncarrying on business for certain undesirable purposes and to provide for the winding \r\nup and dissolution of such companies; \r\n NOW, THEREFORE , in pursuance of the Presidential Proclamation of the \r\nseventh day of October, 195 8, and in exercise of all powers enabling him in that \r\nbehalf, the Governor of West Pakistan is pleased to make and promulgate the \r\nfollowing Ordinance:– \r\n1. Short title and extent .– (1) This Ordinance may be called the \r\n3\r\n[Punjab] \r\nUndesirable Companies Ordinance, 1959. \r\n \r\n4\r\n[(2) It extends to the whole of the Province of \r\n5\r\n[the Punjab] , except the \r\nTriable Areas.] \r\n2. Definitions.– (1) In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires, the \r\nfollowing expressions shall have the meanings hereby respectively assig ned to \r\nthem, that is to say– \r\n(a) “registrar” means– \r\n(i) in the case of a company, the registrar appointed under section \r\n248 of the Companies Act, 1913\r\n6\r\n; and \r\n(ii) in any other case, an officer appointed as such for purposes of \r\nthis Ordinance; \r\n \r\n1This Ordinance was promulgated by the Governor of West Pakistan on April 20, 1959 , published in the Gazette of West \r\nPakistan (Extraordinary), dated April 22, 1959, pp. 339-343; saved and given permanent effect by Article 225 of the Constitution \r\nof the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (1962). \r\n2Substituted for the words “West Pakistan” by the Punjab Laws (Adaptation) Order, 1974 (1 of 1974) (w.e.f. 14.08.1973), \r\npublished in the Gazette of West Pakistan (Extraordinary), dated November 20, 1974, pp. 1425-A-1425-PP, Article 2 read with \r\nSchedule, Part III, Serial No. 24. \r\n3Ibid. \r\n4Substituted by the West Pakistan Laws (Extension to Karachi) Ordinance, 1964 (VII of 1964) , published in the Gazette of \r\nWest Pakistan (Extraordinary), dated May 25, 1964, pp. 1679-1688, s. 2 read with Schedule, Serial No. 23. \r\n5Substituted for the words “West Pakistan” by the Punjab Laws (Adaptation) Order, 1974 (1 of 1974) (w.e.f. 14.08.1973), \r\npublished in the Gazette of West Pakistan (Extraordinary), dated November 20, 1974, pp. 1425-A-1425-PP, Article 2 read with \r\nSchedule, Part III, Serial No. 24. \r\n6VII of 1913. \r\n(b) “specified purpose” means the promotion or the carrying on of any \r\nscheme or business except the business authorised and carried on \r\nunder the provisions of the Insurance Act, 1938\r\n1\r\n, by whatever name \r\ncalled, whereby, in return for a deposit or contribution, whether \r\nperiodically or otherwise, of a sum of money in cash or by means of \r\ncoupons, certificates, tickets or other documents, payment, at future \r\ndate or dates of money or grant of property, right or benefit, directly or \r\nindirectly, and whether with or without any o ther right or benefit, \r\ndetermined by chance or lottery or any other like manner, is assured or \r\npromised; \r\n(c) “undesirable company” means a company which, with objects and \r\nbusiness confined to the Province of \r\n2\r\n[the Punjab], is registered under \r\nthe Companies Act, 1913\r\n3\r\n, and carries on business for a specified \r\npurpose or for purposes which, among others, include a specified \r\npurpose and includes a company, association or other body of \r\nindividuals which carries on business for a specified purpose or for \r\npurposes which, among others, include a specified purpose. \r\n (2) Any expression used but not defined in this Ordinance and defined in \r\nthe Companies Act, 1913\r\n4\r\n, shall have the meanings assigned to it in that Act. \r\n3. Registration of undesirable companies prohibited .– (1) Notwithstanding \r\nanything in the Companies Act, 1913\r\n5\r\n, or in any other law for the time being in force, \r\nno association or other body of individuals which, with objects and business confined \r\nto the Province of \r\n6\r\n[the Punjab], carries or intends to carry on business for a specified \r\npurpose or for purposes which, among others, include a specified purpose, shall on \r\nand after the commencement of this Ordinance, be registered under the Companies \r\nAct, 1913\r\n7\r\n. \r\n (2) Registration in contravention of sub-section (1) shall be void. \r\n (3) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being \r\nin force, no company, association or other body of individuals, with objects and \r\nbusiness confined to the Province of \r\n8\r\n[the Punjab], shall carry on, or shall be for med \r\nto carry on, business for a specified purpose or for purposes which, among others, \r\ninclude a specified purpose. \r\n \r\n1V of 1938. \r\n2Substituted for the words “West Pakistan” by the Punjab Laws (Adaptation) Order, 1974 (1 of 1974) (w.e.f. 14.08.1973), \r\npublished in the Gazette of West Pakistan (Extraordinary), dated November 20, 1974, pp. 1425-A-1425-PP, Article 2 read with \r\nSchedule, Part III, Serial No. 24. \r\n3VII of 1913. \r\n4VII of 1913. \r\n5VII of 1913. \r\n6Substituted for the words “West Pakistan” by the Punjab Laws (Adaptati on) Order, 1974 (1 of 1974) (w.e.f. 14.08.1973), \r\npublished in the Gazette of West Pakistan (Extraordinary), dated November 20, 1974, pp. 1425-A-1425-PP, Article 2 read with \r\nSchedule, Part III, Serial No. 24. \r\n7VII of 1913. \r\n8Substituted for the words “West Pakistan” by the Punjab Laws (Adaptation) Order, 1974 (1 of 1974) (w.e.f. 14.08.1973), \r\npublished in the Gazette of West Pakistan (Extraordinary), dated November 20, 1974, pp. 1425-A-1425-PP, Article 2 read with \r\nSchedule, Part III, Serial No. 24. \r\n (4) Any person who forms or associates himself in the formation of, a \r\ncompany, association or other body of individuals in contravention of sub-section (3) \r\nand every officer or agent of a company, association or other body of individuals \r\nwhich carries on business in contravention of the said sub -section shall be punished \r\nwith imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fin e or with \r\nboth. \r\n4. Existing undesirable Companies to cease functioning .– (1) Every \r\nundesirable company existing immediately before the commencement of this \r\nOrdinance shall, on such commencement, cease to function and, notwithstanding \r\nanything in the Compan ies Act, 1913\r\n1\r\n or in any other law for the time being in force, \r\nshall be wound up and dissolved in the manner provided in this Ordinance. \r\n (2) Any transaction with an undesirable company or with any officer or \r\nagent acting for or on behalf of such company shall be void. \r\n (3) Any officer or agent acting for or on behalf of any such company who, \r\non or after the commencement of this Ordinance, carries on or attempts to carry on \r\nthe business of the company shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which \r\nmay extend to three years or with fine or with both. \r\n5. Deposit of cash and preservation of assets, etc .– (1) Any officer or agent \r\nacting for or on behalf of an undesirable company who has in his possession or \r\nunder his control any cash belonging to the comp any shall, immediately after the \r\ncommencement of this Ordinance, deposit or cause to be deposited such cash with \r\nthe company’s bankers. \r\n (2) Until such time as the official liquidator appointed under section 7 takes \r\ninto his custody or under his control al l the books, documents and assets of the \r\ncompany, including actionable claims to which the company is or appears to be \r\nentitled, every officer and agent acting for or on behalf of the company shall preserve \r\nall such books, documents, assets, property, effe cts and claims and shall be jointly \r\nand severally liable for any loss or damage. \r\n (3) Any person who, with intent to evade the provisions of this Ordinance, \r\nconceals, destroys, mutilates or defaces any books, documents, assets, property, \r\neffects or claims or knowingly allows such concealment, destruction, mutilation or \r\ndefacement to be caused, shall, without prejudice to any liability to which he may be \r\nsubject under sub -section (2), be punished with imprisonment for a term which may \r\nextend to three years or with fine or with both. \r\n6. Statement of assets, etc., to be submitted to registrar .– (1) Within three \r\ndays of the commencement of this Ordinance, or within such period as the registrar \r\nmay allow, the manager of an undesirable company shall submit to the registrar a \r\nstatement showing the assets and liabilities of the company. \r\n (2) Anyone who contravenes the provisions of sub -section (1) shall be \r\npunished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine or \r\nwith both. \r\n \r\n1VII of 1913. \r\n7. Winding up unde sirable companies.– (1) As soon as may be after receipt \r\nof the statement submitted under sub -section (1) of section 6, the registrar shall \r\nmake a petition to the court for winding up the company, and thereupon the court \r\nshall make an order for the winding up of the company and shall appoint an official \r\nliquidator for such winding up. \r\n (2) After the official liquidator has been appointed under this section, the \r\nprovisions of the Companies Act, 1913\r\n1\r\n, relating to the winding up by court of a \r\nregistered company shall mutatis mutandis apply in relation to the winding up of the \r\ncompany in respect of which the petition has been made under sub-section (1). \r\n8. Dissolution of undesirable companies.– When the affairs of an undesirable \r\ncompany have been completely woun d up, the company shall be deemed to have \r\nbeen dissolved under sub-section (1) of section 194 of the Companies Act, 1913\r\n2\r\n. \r\n9. Power to call for certain information, etc .– (1) Where the registrar has \r\nreason to believe that a company is an undesirable compan y or that an undesirable \r\ncompany is carrying on business in contravention of section 4, he or any gazetted \r\nofficer authorized by him in this behalf, may– \r\n(a) direct any person to give such information in his possession with \r\nrespect to any business carried on by that company as he may \r\ndemand; \r\n(b) inspect or cause to be inspected any book or other document \r\nbelonging to or under the control of the company or any officer thereof; \r\n(c) enter and search any premises and seize or authorize any person to \r\nseize any book or other document belonging to or under the control of \r\nthe company or any officer thereof. \r\n (2) If the registrar is satisfied that a company is an undesirable company or \r\nthat an undesirable company is carrying on business in contravention of section 4, \r\nhe shall by order in writing, direct the manager of the company to hand over the \r\nmanagement of the company to a person to be appointed by the registrar for the \r\npurpose, and the manager shall forthwith hand over the management of the \r\ncompany to such person. \r\n (3) The person to whom management is handed over in pursuance of sub -\r\nsection (2) shall be deemed to be the manager of the company, and the other \r\nprovisions of this Ordinance shall apply accordingly. \r\n (4) Whoever fails to comply with any direction given under sub-section (1) \r\nor sub-section (2) shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend \r\nto six months or with fine or with both. \r\n10. Offences to be cognizable .– Notwithstanding anything contained in the \r\nCode of Criminal Procedure, 1898\r\n3\r\n, a ny offence under this Ordinance shall be \r\ncognizable. \r\n \r\n1VII of 1913. \r\n2VII of 1913. \r\n3V of 1898. \r\n11. Cognizance by court with the consent of registrar .– No court shall take \r\ncognizance of any offence under this Ordinance except with the previous consent in \r\nwriting of the registrar. \r\n12. Power to make rules.– The Provincial Government may make rules to carry \r\nout the purposes of this Ordinance, and such rules may provide that the breach of \r\nany of them shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term not exceeding three \r\nmonths or with fine not exceeding one thousand rupees.", "passage_offset_convention": "zero-based Unicode code points and UTF8 bytes; end exclusive", "passages": [ { "passage_id": "law:punjab-code-d8e264128abbd7a9:sha256:b375beb588ef8ddc6b679f8edb27e3fa1e136a6525f955a0f873dde45cdabdab:chars-0-1791:b37e20b23db507a63f482b8e0aebc34a464ad87f10d268ac65b05bb987cfa766", "character_start": 0, "character_end": 1791, "utf8_byte_start": 0, "utf8_byte_end": 1801, "passage_sha256": "b37e20b23db507a63f482b8e0aebc34a464ad87f10d268ac65b05bb987cfa766", "reader_fragment": "p-0-1791-b37e20b23db507a6" }, { "passage_id": "law:punjab-code-d8e264128abbd7a9:sha256:b375beb588ef8ddc6b679f8edb27e3fa1e136a6525f955a0f873dde45cdabdab:chars-1791-3564:fc627c6a2ba83cd567e4b00129296fb30caf51244bbe7ba018dae97a9267605e", "character_start": 1791, "character_end": 3564, "utf8_byte_start": 1801, "utf8_byte_end": 3592, "passage_sha256": "fc627c6a2ba83cd567e4b00129296fb30caf51244bbe7ba018dae97a9267605e", "reader_fragment": "p-1791-3564-fc627c6a2ba83cd5" }, { "passage_id": "law:punjab-code-d8e264128abbd7a9:sha256:b375beb588ef8ddc6b679f8edb27e3fa1e136a6525f955a0f873dde45cdabdab:chars-3564-5324:4121b121b647571c00407ab8560763aa030bbe86f54d375a2cf86b7f6a27057d", "character_start": 3564, "character_end": 5324, "utf8_byte_start": 3592, "utf8_byte_end": 5358, "passage_sha256": "4121b121b647571c00407ab8560763aa030bbe86f54d375a2cf86b7f6a27057d", "reader_fragment": "p-3564-5324-4121b121b647571c" }, { "passage_id": "law:punjab-code-d8e264128abbd7a9:sha256:b375beb588ef8ddc6b679f8edb27e3fa1e136a6525f955a0f873dde45cdabdab:chars-5324-7068:850c43b14d56ba0d1e0db372223f62cbcc65af18c6b4e20539a61f4568a93783", "character_start": 5324, "character_end": 7068, "utf8_byte_start": 5358, "utf8_byte_end": 7116, "passage_sha256": "850c43b14d56ba0d1e0db372223f62cbcc65af18c6b4e20539a61f4568a93783", "reader_fragment": "p-5324-7068-850c43b14d56ba0d" }, { "passage_id": "law:punjab-code-d8e264128abbd7a9:sha256:b375beb588ef8ddc6b679f8edb27e3fa1e136a6525f955a0f873dde45cdabdab:chars-7068-8825:2e5514ee280eeb889acc6eccdd404aa8b6b0c318b85d802fa6ee0c63e2fe5e7c", "character_start": 7068, "character_end": 8825, "utf8_byte_start": 7116, "utf8_byte_end": 8877, "passage_sha256": "2e5514ee280eeb889acc6eccdd404aa8b6b0c318b85d802fa6ee0c63e2fe5e7c", "reader_fragment": "p-7068-8825-2e5514ee280eeb88" }, { "passage_id": "law:punjab-code-d8e264128abbd7a9:sha256:b375beb588ef8ddc6b679f8edb27e3fa1e136a6525f955a0f873dde45cdabdab:chars-8825-10554:0279c84e4319ce3ea5a8c7e60207c2081a3994ed2a84b3492a18424424028dca", "character_start": 8825, "character_end": 10554, "utf8_byte_start": 8877, "utf8_byte_end": 10612, "passage_sha256": "0279c84e4319ce3ea5a8c7e60207c2081a3994ed2a84b3492a18424424028dca", "reader_fragment": "p-8825-10554-0279c84e4319ce3e" }, { "passage_id": "law:punjab-code-d8e264128abbd7a9:sha256:b375beb588ef8ddc6b679f8edb27e3fa1e136a6525f955a0f873dde45cdabdab:chars-10554-12341:2008c4470be9ec3cd34256de691078c97e900d9bc2aac2e9d4511e10faed1a5d", "character_start": 10554, "character_end": 12341, "utf8_byte_start": 10612, "utf8_byte_end": 12405, "passage_sha256": "2008c4470be9ec3cd34256de691078c97e900d9bc2aac2e9d4511e10faed1a5d", "reader_fragment": "p-10554-12341-2008c4470be9ec3c" }, { "passage_id": "law:punjab-code-d8e264128abbd7a9:sha256:b375beb588ef8ddc6b679f8edb27e3fa1e136a6525f955a0f873dde45cdabdab:chars-12341-12939:f2cb87872a2653deae1851168aa3ce121d7b7487da11fb4788c7cfd64bec12c4", "character_start": 12341, "character_end": 12939, "utf8_byte_start": 12405, "utf8_byte_end": 13007, "passage_sha256": "f2cb87872a2653deae1851168aa3ce121d7b7487da11fb4788c7cfd64bec12c4", "reader_fragment": "p-12341-12939-f2cb87872a2653de" } ] }