Bajaur surpasses other tribal districts to have regular courts

PESHAWAR: Bajaur has become the first tribal district where regular courts have started functioning within its territorial limits.

“Bajaur has won the title of having the pioneer district judiciary. It is indeed a historic event as now the inhabitants of Bajaur would get all the constitutional rights,” stated Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court, Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth in a message after regular courts started work in the district.

Senior lawyer Wali Khan Afridi said the inhabitants of other tribal districts could also get regular courts in due course of time. He said people would take some time to adjust to the regular courts as in the past there was no concept of such courts in the merged tribal districts.

Tribesmen from the erstwhile Fata noted that they had struggled for separation of judiciary from the executive and ultimately that goal has been achieved. Earlier, the political agent performed the role of both administrative and judicial officer.

The PHC chief justice had ordered the establishment of regular courts at the earliest within the territorial limits of the newly merged districts in a bid to comply with the judicial pronouncement of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

The regular courts started functioning on March 11, 2019 in the seven tribal districts nine months after the merger of erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Initially, these courts were established in the adjoining settled districts due to lack of courtrooms and staff and also security concerns. Bajaur took the lead as regular courts started functioning in this merged district a few days ago.

The PHC on February 25 posted 28 judicial officers of the district judiciary, including seven district and sessions judges, 14 additional district and sessions judges and seven senior civil judges to operate the regular courts in the merged districts.

PHC Registrar Khawaja Wajeehud Din said that on self-help basis makeshift arrangements have been made in the adjoining districts where district judiciary of the newly merged districts started functioning. He said the makeshift courts would be shifted when the government is able to provide suitable places for the courtrooms in the tribal districts.

The seven tribal agencies were merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through the Constitution (Twenty Fifth Amendment) Act, 2018, which was published in the official gazette on June 5, 2018.

In Peshawar, four judges posted to the Khyber tribal district set up their court at the Federal Judicial Complex located in Hayatabad.

The judicial officers of Kurram set up courts at Thall in Hangu and those for South Waziristan worked at Tank. The judicial officers of district Orakzai functioned in Hangu, those for Mohmand in Shabqadar in Charsadda and the ones for North Waziristan in Bannu.

In erstwhile Fata, the administrative officers including political agents and assistant political agents were assigned judicial powers under FCR. The FCR was abolished through the Fata Interim Governance Regulation 2018 in May 2018, but the administrative officers continued to exercise judicial powers.

However, after the passage of the Constitution (Twenty Fifth Amendment) Act, 2018, the PHC declared as unconstitutional several provisions of Fata Interim Governance Regulation 2018 through which judicial powers were assigned to executive officers and council of elders. The high court had given one month to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to introduce regular judicial system in tribal districts.

Subsequently, the Supreme Court of Pakistan on January 16, 2019 while upholding the PHC’s verdict gave six months to the government for introduction of regular judicial system in the former Fata.