SC forms larger bench to hear plea against FATA merger

ISLAMABAD: To hear the petition challenging the 25th constitutional amendment resulting in merger of Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan on Wednesday has decided to constitute a larger bench.

The apex court’s three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial conducted the hearing of plea against the amendment.

During the hearing, the bench announced that a larger bench of the SC will hear the case after Ramadan.

The apex court observed that the petitioners have raised the point in the constitution that the status of a federating unit could not be changed.

Attorney General (AG) Khalid Javed said that the parliament has powers and limitations over amending the constitution. It is necessary to determine the extent to which the parliament could amend the constitution.

AG maintained FATA representatives had supported the 25th constitutional amendment, while adding that the tribal Jirga of the region was also consulted before the merger.

It is to mention here that the 25th amendment was passed by the parliament in May 2018.

The elders of erstwhile tribal areas have filed constitutional petitions challenging the merger of their area to KP province.

The federal government and the KP governments had raised objections over the petition.

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