PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth on Saturday called upon the judicial officers recently posted in the seven merged tribal districts to proceed in cases in accordance with the law without any pressure and prejudice and follow discipline so as to set example for their staff.

Addressing an orientation session organised by the high court for the judicial officers of the merged districts, Chief Justice Waqar Seth asked them to maintain a gentlemen’s behaviour with litigant public. He said that the selection of judicial officers for this assignment had been carried out painstakingly and extra caution had been taken to ensure that the best of the best were selected for this mammoth task.

He referred to the preparation carried out by the high court’s Registrar Khawaja Wajihuddin and the secretariat of district judiciary and highlighted that all efforts had been carried out to facilitate the judicial officers.

The PHC registrar said that a three-pronged strategy had been devised and as immediate intervention makeshift arrangements had been made in the adjoining districts for the court to start functioning.

He said that it would be their endeavour that arrangements should be made to shift these courts to the tribal districts in the shortest span of time. He added that as a long-term planning it was proposed to the provincial government to establish judicial complexes in those districts.

The high court on Feb 25 for the first time posted 28 judicial officers in the seven tribal districts of erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas, including seven district and sessions judges, seven senior civil judges and 14 additional district and sessions judges.

Three days ago the high court directed all the quasi-judicial bodies functioning in the erstwhile Fata/merged districts to immediately transmit the record of all pending litigations to a specialised cell set up for this specific purpose at the Secretariat of the District Judiciary.

As a stopgap arrangement, the newly-posted judicial officers will initially start functioning in the adjoining districts till the time the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government provided the requisite facilities at the merged tribal districts.

The judicial officers for Khyber will initially function at the Federal Judicial Complex Hayatabad, Peshawar, officers of Bajaur will function in Timergara (Dir Lower), that of Kurram in Thall (Hangu district), of South Waziristan in Tank, those of Orakzai to function in Hangu, officers of Mohmand to work in Shabqadar (Charsadda), and of North Waziristan in Bannu.

The high court has also sent a requisition to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Public Service Commission for recruitment of 24 civil judges-cum-judicial magistrates on urgent basis.

On the demand of the high court, the KP government has recently approved creation of 907 posts for the functioning of judiciary in tribal districts, including 52 posts of judicial officers.

Following the passage of Constitution (Twenty-Fifth Amendment) Act, 2018, the PHC declared as unconstitutional several provisions of Fata Interim Governance Regulation, 2018, through which judicial powers were assigned to the executive officers and council of elders.

The high court had given a month’s time to the provincial government for introducing regular judicial system in tribal districts. Subsequently, the Supreme Court while upholding the PHC’s verdict on Jan 16 gave six-month time to the government for introduction of regular judicial system in the former Fata.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2019