Merged districts deprived of NFC, PHC told

A bench of the Peshawar High Court, comprising Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Syed Arshad Ali, has issued notices to the federal and provincial governments, seeking responses on a petition challenging the deprivation of billions of rupees in NFC shares for K-P's merged districts.

During the hearing, former provincial minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra was represented by Advocate Gohar Durani, who requested the court to direct regular NFC meetings, as well as the immediate convening of the CCI.

Durani informed the court that the former FATA regions have suffered from terrorism for decades, resulting in significant loss of life and property, leaving the areas underdeveloped. Through the 25th Amendment in 2018, these regions were merged into K-P with the intention that the federal government would allocate an annual Rs90 billion from NFC funds to aid development and integrate these regions.

"However, the federal government has not fulfilled this constitutional obligation," the petitioner alleged.