FC relocation: AG summoned again to clarify troop’s status

PHC questions if the force can be deployed outside of K-P.

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday summoned Attorney General (AG) Pakistan Irfan Qadir for a second time to assist on the Frontier Constabulary’s (FC) relocation status.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Roohul Amin summoned Qadir while hearing a petition filed by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government seeking the relocation of the FC to the province.



Earlier, on May 7, Qadir had been told to appear before the court and present his views on the FC’s status. The PHC had questioned if a force meant to be deployed in K-P and Frontier Regions (FR) can be deployed in Sindh, Gilgit-Baltistan under provisions of the FC Act 1919.

During the hearing on Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General Iqbal Mohmand informed the bench AG Qadir could not appear at the PHC since he was scheduled to appear before the apex court.

The bench observed Qadir be contacted and asked when he would be available so he can clarify if it was permissible under the FC Act 1919 for the forces to be deployed outside the province (K-P).



The constabulary was formed to protect the buffer zone between the tribal and settled areas.

It had been deployed outside of K-P to provide security to VVIPs in Islamabad and elsewhere, however, a major portion of FC platoons have been deployed back to the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2013.