ISLAMABAD – The Upper House of the Parliament has unanimously passed a bill extending the Supreme Court and Peshawar High Court’s jurisdiction to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
The bill was moved by Law Minister Mahmood Bashir Virk who, while briefing on the bill, said that it was drafted after consensus from all the leaders and other political stakeholders.
However, the Senators from Jamiat Ulema-e Islam-Fazl and Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party staged a walkout in protest against the tabling of the bill.
“The decision to approve the bill is against the people of Fata,” JUI-F Senator Maulana Attaur Rehman said and added that the bill is supported by both the government and the opposition which raises questions about it being brought on someone else’s behest.
The extension of the apex courts’ jurisdiction is one of several demands of the people of FATA who seek to be treated similarly as the rest of the country.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/nawaz-felicitates-tribals-on-extension-of-sc-phc-jurisdiction-to-fata/
The KP Assembly had adopted a resolution on December 14, 2016, in favour of merging FATA with KP with the aim of rehabilitating and reconstructing the infrastructure including roads, communications, power lines, water supply, education and health facilities.
The recommendations to bring the tribal areas at par with the rest of the country were approved by the federal cabinet on March 2, 2017, but the matter has been delayed since then.
The bill has already been approved by the National Assembly.
