ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Attorney General for Pakistan and Advocate General Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) regarding 25th Constitutional Amendment to merge FATA and PATA in the KP.

A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, heard a petition to declare 25th Constitutional Amendment ultra vires of the Constitution.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that the FATA and the PATA were merged in the KP in violation of Article 247(6) of Constitution. He said according to the constitutional provision the consultation with the jirga was a must before making any change in the tribal areas. He said in the jirga included MNAs and MPAs from the tribal areas. However, the then parliament without consulting the jirga merged the FATA and the PATA in the KP.

Justice Bandial said this was an interesting case, and asked the counsel; the jirga’s approval was must before the merger of FATA & PATA in the KP. He remarked that the petitioner’s counsel wanted to reverse the clock and adjourned the case for an indefinite period.

Under 25th Amendment the areas of the FATA and the PATA were merged in the province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The PATA in areas in Balochistan were merged in that province. After that jurisdiction of respective high courts and the Supreme Court were extended to the tribal areas. People of FATA region were given representation in provincial assembly of the KP.

Under amendment in Article 106 of the Constitution, 21 additional seats have been provided for Fata in the provincial assembly of the KP. With the merger of the FATA and its placement at par with other areas of the country, the seats in the National Assembly for the region were reduced from 12 to six. Additionally, eight seats allocated to the FATA in the Senate will also go away when next year its election will be held.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020