House proceedings: Senate calls for extending court jurisdiction to FATA

Resolution seeks amendment to Constitution to extend the country’s judicial system into the tribal areas

ISLAMABAD:

In a unanimously passed resolution on Monday, members of the Senate declared support for measures to extend the jurisdiction of both the Supreme Court and High Court to Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) by virtue of a constitutional amendment.

Moved by PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar, the resolution seeks an amendment to Article 247 of the Constitution to extend the country’s judicial system into the tribal areas.

Though hesitant at first, the government suggested that the resolution be referred to the relevant standing committee to enhance the scope of amendments. Leader of the house, Raja Zafarul Haq said that the resolution should be sent to a standing committee for substantial reforms instead of a single amendment in order to safeguard the rights of the people of Fata.

Law Minister Zahid Hamid, however, referred to Article 247 (7) which reads “Neither the Supreme Court nor a High Court shall exercise any jurisdiction under the Constitution in relation to a Tribal Area, unless Majlis-e-Shoora (parliament) by law otherwise,” and said “we should decided whether the extension of the jurisdiction of courts is to be achieved through deletion [of constitutional provision] or otherwise through an Act.”

However, Babar said that under Article-1-A(c) of the Constitution the tribal areas were a territory of Pakistan and therefore its people were entitled to the same fundamental rights, as enjoyed by the people of other areas under the Constitution.

He referred to a unanimously passed resolution by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) assembly in May 2012 and said that it had called for amending the constitution so as to extend the jurisdiction of the SC and High Court to the tribal areas and a decision of Peshawar High Court advised the Parliament to make suitable amendments in Article 247 (7).

“Resisting the adoption of the resolution would give a negative message to the people of Fata that the Senate is divided over the issue,” added Babar.

Think Tank

Monday’s proceedings started with unanimous adoption of resolution, moved by Raja Zafarul Haq, in order to amend the rules for creation of the first parliamentary think tank in the country which would assist Senators give input in policymaking. Through the motion, eight new rules (rules 269 to 276) in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate 2012, were inserted dealing with the “Senate Forum for Policy Research.”

Attacks on Sikhs

State Minister for Interior Baleeghur Rehman apprised the house that there had been two incidents of the killing of a member of the Sikh community. The first, he said occurred on September 4 and the second on September 6. He said that the government condemns the incidents and has asked K-P inspector general and the chief secretary to submit their reports.

While endorsing the views of other senators, Rehman said that both incidents were of serious concern for the government.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2014.