PESHAWAR: Regular courts started functioning in the seven tribal districts on Monday, nine months after the merger of erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The Peshawar High Court has on Feb 25 posted 28 judicial officers of the district judiciary including seven district and sessions judges, 14 additional district and sessions judges and seven senior civil judges in these districts.

Peshawar High Court Registrar Khawaja Wajeehud Din said that on self-help basis makeshift arrangements have been made in the adjoining districts, where district judiciary of the newly merged districts (NMDs) started functioning. He said that it was expected that government would provide suitable places within tribal districts to shift the courts there.

Senior lawyer terms day historic for residents of former Fata

In a statement issued here, he said that it was in line with vision of PHC Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth, who had directed to promptly establish system of administration of justice at those districts as they were deprived of it since independence.

The seven tribal districts were merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through the Constitution (Twenty Fifth Amendment) Act, 2018, which was published in the official gazette on June 5, 2018.

In Peshawar, four judges started functioning for Khyber tribal district at the Federal Judicial Complex, situated in Hayatabad Township.

The judges include district and sessions judge Shahid Khan, additional district and sessions judges Ali Gohar and Asif Rasheed and senior civil judge Zafarullah Khan Mohmand.

The offices and courtrooms assigned to these judges were earlier in use of former Fata Tribunal, the third and final judicial forum under the now abolished Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).

Similarly, the government has deputed Mian Aziz Ahmad as the first district public prosecutor of Khyber district. Two assistant public prosecutors, Asifzeb and Asfandyar Khan, have also been deputed in Khyber district.

“Presently, we have been setting up offices and maintaining record,” said Mian Aziz Ahmad. He added that on Monday he had received notices from the district and sessions judge Khyber in two bail petitions.

He said that it would be their endeavour to play a proactive role in disposal of cases as it was important for the success of the judicial system in tribal districts.

The first case filed before the senior civil judge Khyber Zafarullah Mohmand was by a student Nadir Khan. He has filed a suit against the administration of Government College Landi Kotal in Khyber district.

His counsel Sajjad Hussain stated that his client had applied for admission in BS classes but without assigning any reason the college’s administration had not admitted him. He requested the court as interim relief the admissions at the said college be stayed.

The court issued notice to the college administration and fixed March 14 for next hearing.

“It is a historic day for all the inhabitants of tribal districts, especially for those, who had been striving for rule of law, supremacy of the constitution and mainstreaming of tribal areas,” said senior advocate Abdul Lateef Afridi, who is also a former MNA from Khyber tribal district.

He told Dawn that the inhabitants of those districts could move the high court to get their fundamental rights. He said that it would take some time for the people to adjust to the regular courts as in past there was no concept of such courts in tribal districts.

Habibur Rehman Afridi, another senior advocate, said that the enlightened people of tribal districts had been striving since long for setting up of regular courts system in the former Fata and with the starting of those courts it was a great victory for them.

“We had struggled for separation of judiciary from the executive and ultimately that goal has now been achieved,” he said, adding that in former Fata the political agent performed as administrative as well as judicial officers.

Apart from Khyber district, the judicial officers of Bajaur started functioning in Timergara, Dir Lower; that of Kurram at Thall, Hangu district; of South Waziristan in Tank, those of Orakzai to function in Hangu; officers of Mohmand to work in Shabqadar, Charssada; and of North Waziristan to work in Bannu.

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

In past, the administrative officers including political agents and assistant political agents were assigned judicial powers in erstwhile Fata under FCR. The FCR was abolished through Fata Interim Governance Regulation (FIGR) 2018, in May 2018, but even under the new regulation judicial powers were assigned to administrative officers.

However, after the passage of the Constitution (Twenty Fifth Amendment) Act, 2018, the PHC declared as unconstitutional several provisions of FIGR through which judicial powers were assigned to executive officers and council of elders. The high court had given a month time to the provincial government for introducing regular judicial system in tribal districts.

Subsequently, the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Jan 16 while upholding the PHC’s verdict gave six months time to the government for introduction of regular judicial system in former Fata.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2019