Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Rejecting the registrar office’ objections, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Wednesday directed that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan’s petition, seeking a Supreme Court order for merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), be fixed before a full bench for regular hearing in the open court.

During the hearing, Babar Awan, counsel for Imran Khan, argued that the objections raised by the registrar office were unreasonable.

He said according to the rules, all legal procedure has been fulfilled. He requested that the objections might be rejected and the petition might be accepted for regular hearing. The chief justice then accepted his request.

The petition filed by Babar Awan on behalf of Imran Khan stated that the people of FATA would be “extremely grateful” if the court ensured enforcement of their fundamental rights by ordering the merger of Fata with KP.

The petition has named President Mamnoon Hussain and the federal government — through the law secretary, Ministry of States and Frontier Regions and in charge of FATA — as respondents.

The petition argues that in its preamble the constitution says the principles of democracy, freedom, equality and social justice will be upheld. The rights of the people of the federation’s territories, including the areas that come under Fata, will be dealt with in a similar fashion.

It is the fundamental right of the people of FATA to enjoy equal protection of law and to be treated in accordance with the law as an integral part of the federation, the petition argues.

It states that under Article 247 of the constitution the president is mandated to frame regulations for peace and good governance in Fata in order to bring its poor people and war-ravaged areas on a par with other federating units of the country.

It highlights that the president in consultation with the KP government has formulated a Fata reforms package.

It says that the provincial government has fulfilled its constitutional requirement and consented to merge the areas of Fata with its territories, for which decisions and steps have already been taken.

In addition, it says a resolution has been adopted by the provincial assembly in this regard, but the respondents, to the utter surprise of all concerned, have backed down from merging Fata and KP due to political reasons. The petition says that the inaction on the part of the respondents to enforce Fata reforms package offends the principle of policy laid down in the Constitution and violates the fundamental rights of the citizens of the country.

Published in Daily Times, February 22^nd 2018.