PESHAWAR:
A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), comprising Justice Naeem Anwar and Justice Kamran Hayat Mian Khel, has directed the federal government to submit a detailed report within 14 days regarding the alleged deprivation of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s merged districts of their rightful share under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.
During the hearing, counsel for former provincial finance minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra, Advocate Ali Gohar Durrani, informed the court that a constitutional petition had been filed seeking regular NFC meetings and the immediate convening of the Council of Common Interests (CCI). He said that the President of Pakistan, the federal government, the federal finance secretary, the NFC, the CCI, and the K-P chief secretary, among others, had been named respondents.
The petitioner argued that the ex-FATA regions had suffered decades of terrorism, resulting in severe human and economic losses and prolonged underdevelopment. Following the 25th Constitutional Amendment in 2018, ex-FATA and the FR Regions were formally merged with K-P. As per the FATA Reforms Committee’s recommendations, it was agreed that the federal government would provide Rs90 billion annually through the NFC to uplift the merged districts and integrate them into the national mainstream. However, counsel said, the federal government had failed to fulfill this constitutional obligation.
Advocate Gohar stated that after the merger, financial, administrative and other responsibilities of the regions were shifted to the provincial government. Yet, due to the federal government’s failure to release the promised funds, the K-P government is now struggling to meet even its salary expenditures. He added that development projects have stalled due to the severe financial shortfall.
The petition highlighted that a meeting of the National Economic Council on May 24, 2018 had decided to place the matter of FATA’s funding before the National Security Committee. However, despite repeated announcements, the promised three per cent NFC share for the merged districts has not been released, leaving the issue mired in political tug-of-war.
The petitioner further pointed out that K-P generates a substantial portion of national revenue, yet continues to be deprived of its due NFC share. The last NFC Award, the 7th Award, was announced in 2010, prior to the 18th Amendment. No NFC meeting has been held since 2022, despite the constitutional requirement of convening it twice annually.
The court was also informed that a special development committee for ex-FATA had passed a resolution supporting a three per cent NFC allocation for the merged districts. The National Assembly Secretariat later issued a notification on September 19, 2021 endorsing the proposal, which amounts to nearly Rs1 trillion annually. Nevertheless, no implementation has followed.
Advocate Gohar said his client is a regular taxpayer and therefore has the right to know how national revenues are being utilized. He requested the court to order the convening of NFC and CCI meetings to ensure that K-P receives its lawful share.
The bench subsequently sought a comprehensive report from the federal government and adjourned the case.
