Ordinance to fill legal, administrative void in PATA awaits K-P governor’s go-ahead

PESHAWAR: To fill in the legal and administrative vacuum in the wake of the abolition of Article 247 in the 31st Amendment Bill, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) cabinet approved an ordinance hour’s before the assembly was de-notified.

“It’s an extension of the Article 247 to provide legal cover to the status of the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata),” an official explained.

Explaining the need for an ordinance which has been sent to the governor to sign, officials privy to the developments said that a “truncated Article 246 sheds doubts over the term “tribal areas” and the rationale behind retaining it in the Constitution of Pakistan”.

The government’s impromptu constitutional amendments contradict basis of the very setup it is attempting to exude. Instead, it leaves those in the helm of power baffled, he said.

The reservations pertaining to extension of tax law to Pata has been addressed in the ordinance by providing tax amnesty scheme.



The ordinance paves a way for laws, by-laws, regulations rules and notifications applicable in Pata under Article 247 to "remain in force until altered, repealed or amended by the competent authority."

It also allows federal and provincial levies forces to retain policing powers in K-P as and when required.



Since the abolition of Article 247  not only strips the head of state of powers to constitute new regulations but it also illegalise the existing regulations.

Moreover, the regulations for Pata lose legal standing leading to an administrative and legal vacuum.  Hence, the ordinance provides legal coverage to actions taken under the Aid of Civil Power Regulations 2011, which provides legal cover to the actions and operations carried out by the armed forces, and Malakand Division's Nizam-e-Adl Regulations.



Any further issues arising in implementation of the ordinance will be placed before a committee, constituted by  K-P chief secretary.