Pending restructuring: PHC reserves judgment on Kohistan bifurcation

Petition to revoke decision to divide Kohistan was filed by former nazims of various parts of province

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court reserved its judgment on petitions challenging the division of Kohistan into two districts under the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Local Government (amendment) Bill 2015.

The decision was announced on Thursday. The petition was filed by former nazims of seven districts, tehsils and union councils, requesting that the bill be declared illegal and unconstitutional.

When the hearing commenced before a division bench, comprising Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Roohul Amin, Advocate General Abdul Latif Yousafzai argued the bill was passed after fulfilling all legal and constitutional requirements, and asked the court to dismiss the writs. Barrister Masood Kausar, representing the petitioners, told the court the writ petition challenging the notification, under which Kohistan was made into two districts, was filed in 2014 at high court.



He argued the writ was not decided upon when the provincial government approved the amendment in the Local Government Act 2013, in the light of which Kohistan was divided into 39 wards.

He informed the court that of the 39 wards, 23 were included in Lower Kohistan while Upper Kohistan comprised the remaining 16 wards.

He said areas that were previously part of Swat, which also fell under Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata), were merged with Lower Kohistan. “The provincial government cannot change the tribal status of Pata. Therefore, merging its parts with Lower Kohistan was illegal and unconstitutional,” he argued. Pattan, the district headquarters of Lower Kohistan, was a part of Pata and could not be merged with the settled areas, Kausar added.

After hearing the arguments from both sides, the bench reserved itsjudgment till January 19.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th,  2015.