PHC questions terror suspects’ presence in internment centres without trial

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has questioned for how long the terror suspects would continue languishing in internment centres without trial now that the military courts became non-functional since January 2019.

A two-member bench comprising PHC Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Abdul Shakoor directed the federal and provincial governments to submit comments in a constitutional petition challenging the recent legislation meant to protect the laws that were enforced in the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata), including one governing the internment centres.

“This court is giving last opportunity to the governments to submit comments in the petition before next hearing to be held on August 7,” the chief justice told Deputy Attorney General Asghar Kundi and Additional Advocate General Qaiser Ali Shah, the law officers representing the federal and provincial governments in the petition.

Earlier, the respondent governments failed to submit comments in the case and the bench gave more time on the request of the law officers.

Shabbir Hussain Gigyani, a Peshawar-based lawyer, had challenged the continuation of laws in the erstwhile Fata after the 25th Constitutional Amendment and pleaded before the court to strike down the KP Continuation of Laws in Erstwhile Pata Act, 2018, and KP Continuation of Laws in Erstwhile Fata Act, 2019.

He argued that the KP government adopted the two laws in violation of both the Constitution and the judgments of superior courts.

He said the legislations illegally kept intact all the laws, regulations, rules and notifications meant for the erstwhile Fata and Pata, including the Action (in aid of civil power) Regulation, 2011.

The petitioner requested the court to declare unconstitutional the establishment of internment centres in Fata and Pata under the 2011 Regulation, and order the government to hand over all internees to the relevant courts for trial.

He also sought the court’s orders for stopping the respondents, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, from promulgation of any laws, rules, regulations, notifications or any other legal instrument that discriminates the public of erstwhile Fata/Pata from rest of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or in violation of the constitutional and fundamental rights of the inhabitants of those areas.

The petitioner said that through the Constitution (Twenty-Fifth Amendment) Act, 2018, the erstwhile Fata and Pata had been merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while Article 247 of the Constitution under which these areas were given a different status than rest of the country was omitted.

He said that after the omission of Article 247 and amendments to Article 246, the discriminatory laws in practice in those areas ceased to exist and all the federal and provincial laws applicable in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were also applicable to the merged tribal districts.

The petitioner, who specialises in cases of internment and enforced disappearances, said that in the past the residents of former Fata were suppressed through discriminatory laws, including the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) and AACPR 2011.

He said that initially the government had promulgated the Fata Interim Governance Regulation, 2018 through which a parallel judicial system was launched, but the Peshawar High Court declared it in conflict with the Constitution on October 30, 2018.

The petitioner said that through the two regulations, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had given protection to some unconstitutional laws, including the Action (in aid of civil power) Regulation, which is in violation of the Constitution.