Dispute resolution law challenged in PHC

The provincial government is the respondent in the case

PESHAWAR:

The alternate dispute resolution law, which was recently introduced by the government, has been challenged in court, arguing that it violates the separation of powers as guaranteed under the Constitution. The Alternate Dispute Resolution Act 2020, was been challenged in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) by Fawad Afzal through his lawyer Noor Alam Khan. Making the provincial government the respondent in the case, the petitioner argued that the executive or its functionaries cannot use the powers granted to the judiciary under the Constitution. However, the law in question had granted powers to commissioners and deputy commissioners to form jirga to solve disputes, thus effectively challenging the powers of the judiciary. The suit blamed the provincial government of turning the province into a legal experiment which was unjust and that the court should take notice of it.