PESHAWAR, Nov 30: A local businessman on Friday moved the Peshawar High Court to seek directives for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to legislate on the post-devolution arms and ammunition licensing in the province.

In the petition, Habibullah Zahid, owner of restaurants, said after the enactment of 18th Constitutional Amendment, which decentralised powers, the licensing of arms, ammunition and explosives had become a provincial subject, but the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had yet to make and enact laws on it.

He prayed the court to direct the government to move a bill in the provincial assembly regarding the licensing of arms, firearms, ammunition and explosives so that the fruit of provincial autonomy should reach the public at large.

The respondents in the petition are the provincial government through the chief secretary, the home and tribal affairs secretary and the law and parliamentary affairs secretary.

In the petition filed through lawyer Shahid Naseem Chamkani, the businessman said after the passage of 18th Amendment by Parliament, Concurrent Legislative List’s item Nos 17 (arms, firearms and ammunitions) and 18 (explosives) were transferred to the province like other items.

He said the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had got several bills approved from the provincial assembly like Zakat and Ushr Act and Publication of Holy Quran Act, while some on compulsory education and labour were in the pipeline, but it ignored item Nos 17 and 18 of the abolished Concurrent List.

Mr Zahid said in absence of the provincial legislation, the people of the province had to go to Islamabad for securing licences of prohibited bore weapons.

He said a needful person could not have a modern weapon for own safety and the security of his family though influential persons got the same for pretentious display in the public.

The businessman said although arms and explosives had now become provincial subject after the abolition of Concurrent List, the same was still referred to the federal government against the spirit of 18th Amendment to the Constitution.