Fata-KP merger: PHC requires Rs 13.869 billion for developing infrastructure

After the merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the Peshawar High court (PHC) will require Rs 13.869 billion for infrastructure development and 52 judicial officers to establish regular courts in the erstwhile tribal region. A day earlier, the 31st constitutional amendment bill regarding the merger of Fata with KP was approved from Senate Assembly. The amendment will bring an end to colonial-era laws governing the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and extending the writ of Pakistani courts to its districts and increasing development assistance to its residents.
The Peshawar High Court, according to an official document, would be established seven modern judicial complexes expanding on 100 kanals at each district level of FATA for which Rs 4.341 billion has been estimated. Similarly, a sum of Rs 9.528 billion would be spent to establish seven equipped judicial complexes expending on 30 kanals at tehsil level.
After the extension of jurisdictions of Peshawar High courts to Fata, the document said that seven district and session judges as well as 14 Additional. District & Session Judges will be appointed for session courts. Likewise, it added that seven senior civil judges and 24 civil judges would be appointed for civil courts.
Moreover, the document said that nearly 823 para legal staff that includes Superintendent, senior clerk, Stenotypist, Muharir, Naib Nazir, Daftari, Naib Qasib and others would be appointed for smooth court functioning. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas represent the gateway to the plains of the subcontinent through seven passes: Bajaur, Dir, Khyber, Mohmand, Peiwar Kotal in Kurram Agency, the Bolan Pass and Gomal in South Waziristan.
Following the merger of FATA with KP province, the document said that it will receive Rs 24bn annually for development projects. FATA will also receive Rs 10bn on an annual basis. Local government elections will be held in FATA and the provincial elections in the tribal areas will be held on April 2019, while Senators elected from FATA will complete their tenure.
The bill titled Thirty-First Amendment Act, 2018 was presented by Minister for Law and Justice Chaudhry Mahmood Bashir Virk, while the session was being headed by Senate Chairperson Sadiq Sanjrani. During the session, 71 lawmakers voted in favour of nine clauses of the constitutional amendment bill while five were against them. Besides, 28 lawmakers were absent from the House during the session. Earlier, 229 Lawmakers in the National Assembly voted in favour of the bill calling for the merger of FATA with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday while eleven MNAs voted against it in the first round.