Under trial cases shift from Landi Kotal to Peshawar

Ahmad Nabi

LANDI KOTAL: On the direction of the Appellate Court, the local administration of Landi Kotal shifted all 88 civil and criminal under trial cases to Peshawar and deposited files of the cases with the registrar of the Peshawar High Court for further process. It is worth mentioning here that the Peshawar High Court restricted the administration in merged tribal district of dealing cases through previous abolished law and ordered them to forthwith shift all under process cases with registrar of the Court.

The Peshawar High Court posted judicial officers in merged tribal districts including Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Kurram, North Waziristan and South Waziristan to deal the cases under regular law. The district judicial court of Khyber has been temporary set up in Phase-06, Hayatabad Peshawar which will deal the cases. Assistant Commissioner, Landi Kotal Muhammad Imran while confirming the new development said that on the directions of Peshawar High Court, they were unauthorized to deal any case and rather than they enjoyed power DC or AC had under the law or they could execute only the policing power they still had to keep law and order situation in the area.

All the shifted cases would be dealt in the Court of Session judge, appointed by the High Court he added and saying there were only six high profile cases of murder etc and the rest were pity cases and could be decided in days. Noor-ul-Azam, resident of Piro Khel, Landi Kotal who had property dispute expressed displeasure over the shifting of his case from Landi Kotal to Peshawar and said he was poor person and could not bear expenses of travelling in addition with hardships of trip from one district to another.

“Since creation of Pakistan we were familiar with the old judicial system but with cease of Frontier Crime Regulation (FCR) and merging we face an alien judicial procedure in alien land that will multiplied our problems”, Azam remarked. He asked for immediately shifting of the district judicial court to Landi Kotal.

A social worker and an elder, Shakir Afridi while commenting on the matter of shifting all under trial cases to Peshawar said that the decision of the authorities concern would affected the locals because they would travel 50 kilometers to Peshawar to pursue their cases, in addition with extra financial burden in form of fare and food. “All promises made with us could not materialize so far and the people of the tribal belt have been deceived in the name of opportunities of development and progress they will avail after engird of ex-Fata in mainstream”, Afridi remarked.

He criticized the act of abolishing FCR and merging the tribal belt into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa(KP) and said the century old system was eliminated but the in return the regular judicial and administrative system had not been extended to the area and the tribesmen was left pendant in the middle of sky and earth. The decision of abolishing of previous status of Fata had been made in hurry as the old system was wrapped while arrangements had not been finalized to facilitate the tribal at door steps he added and saying the authorities should make forthwith initiatives to continue all judicial case locally.

Jamaat-e-Islam, Ex-Fata districts ameer Sardar Khan flayed the act of the KP government to establish districts courts for merged tribal in adjacent settled districts and said it was equllent to negate the tribesmen of the right of having justice. “It is irony that the residents of Shelman, Tirah Valley etc. the remote areas of Khyber will go Peshawar to pursue their cases”, Khan argued.

With joint efforts, they got rid-off the black law and won a respectable status for the tribesmen but ironically some elements strived hard to revise the decision and the tribal political parties would never let them to be successful in their mal-design. He urged the provincial government to set up district courts in every tribal district