K-P share in CPEC: Qaiser to approach PHC again, if promises not kept

K-P Assembly speaker says will wait till February next to check progress on federal govt’s commitments

PESHAWAR: Khyber-Paktunkhwa (K-P) Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser has warned to take the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CEPC) project back to the Peshawar High Court if the federal government does not show progress in fulfilling its commitments.

Qaiser was addressing a press conference at the K-P Assembly on Monday to inform the media about the progress on his petition filed with the Peshawar High Court (PHC). The petition sought multiple directions to the federal government on the establishment of the Western Route and inclusion of developmental projects in the CPEC proposed by the K-P government.



He was accompanied by his counsel Qazi Anwar, who had pursed the case in the PHC, which was disposed of on December 6, only after Qaiser was satisfied with the reply submitted by the federal government.

In his address, Qaiser narrated as to what developments propelled him to knock on the court’s door. “It was my responsibility as a custodian of the assembly and as the assembly had unanimously passed three different resolutions seeking details from the federal government on the Western Route’s status and K-P’s share in the multibillion-dollar project,” he said, adding that the federal government was not responding even though it had assured the K-P chief minister at different occasions that it would.

Qaiser approached the court as he wanted legal cover for the commitments made by the federal government.

“We have to protect our people’s rights and provide them legal cover, which we have done. Now, the people of K-P will get a major chunk of their share from the CPEC projects,” he claimed.

To a question regarding the possibility of the federal government to backtrack on its commitments, he said he would file a contempt of court case. “We will wait and check the progress on the commitments [developmental projects] for two months and after that in February we will decide about taking the matter back to the court.”

Qazi Anwar said that it would be a contempt of court if the federal government did not fulfil its commitments.

Anwar said, “The federal secretary has submitted affidavits of the promised projects.”

The lawyer said that they wanted the federal secretary and not the political government to submit affidavits of the commitments in court as the political government could change, rendering the commitments ineffective.



The federal government has submitted details of all the projects, approved by the Joint Coordination Committee of the CPEC, in court.

The projects include; hydro projects along the north Indus River, Greater Peshawar Region Mass Transit Circular Railway project, Dualisation of Indus Highway’s remaining portion (Kohat to Gambila on 128 kilometres), and construction of double fast railway track between Peshawar and Karachi and Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan and alternative routes, including Khunjrab-Bisham-Swat-Chakdara route and Gilgit-Chitral-Chakdara route.