Court orders scheduled power loadshedding in merged districts

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday issued a direction to the Tribal Electric Supply Company (Tesco) to ensure that the loadshedding schedule for the merged tribal districts is on a par with other districts of the province.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Musarrat Hilali issued the direction in a writ petition filed by Nazar Khan and others, residents of the Bara tehsil of the Khyber district.

During the hearing, the petitioner’s lawyer submitted before the bench that the electric supply company were carrying 14 to 18 hours long unscheduled loadshedding in the tribal districts.

He submitted that after 25th Constitutional Amendment and merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the residents of tribal districts have the same rights as enjoyed by residents of other districts of the province and as per the government decision there should also be scheduled loadshedding in the tribal districts.

The lawyer argued it was a discrimination with the people of tribal districts which was a clear violation of Article 25 of Constitution.

The bench after preliminary arguments issued a direction to Tesco to carry out scheduled loadshedding in the merged districts like other parts of the province.

The court also sought a reply from the federal government, Tesco and Pesco in the writ petition before next hearing.