PESHAWAR: Removing ambiguity regarding the terrorism-related cases transferred to courts in merged tribal districts, the Peshawar High Court has decided that the anti-terrorism courts already set up in the seven divisions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, are authorised to hear the cases related to the erstwhile Fata.

The decision was made during a meeting chaired by the high court’s registrar about the legal status of criminal cases transferred to the courts recently established in the merged tribal districts, especially those about terrorism.

The meeting was attended by members of the Secretariat District Judiciary.

A member of the court’s staff told Dawn that the meeting’s decisions were later approved by the high court’s chief justice before they were communicated to the district and sessions judges of the merged districts and special ATC judges in the adjoining divisions for implementation.

Following the merger of the erstwhile Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in light of the passage of the Constitution (Twenty-Fifth Amendment) Act, 2018, last year, regular courts began functioning in tribal districts in March.

The cases pending with different forums, which used to function under the then Frontier Crimes Regulation in the region, were transferred to these courts.

Sources said the meeting discussed whether the ATCs already functioning in seven divisions of the province were empowered to hear terrorism-related cases in the erstwhile Fata.

They said the participants declared that ATCs established in Peshawar, DI Khan, Bannu, Saidu Sharif (Swat), Abbottabad, Kohat and Mardan divisions had jurisdiction and powers to hear all cases pertaining to offences committed in the merged tribal districts as those areas were integral part of the adjacent divisions.

The sources said the participants unanimously held that the cases registered under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, and pending with the defunct courts under the FCR stood transferred to the anti-terrorism courts of the relevant divisions.

They said ATCs had the jurisdiction and authority to entertain, adjudicate and decide all cases transferred to them.

The meeting also discussed another ambiguity related to the cases of suspected militants charged under Pakistan Penal Code’s Section 121 (waging war against the state), Section 121A (conspiring to wage war) and Section 122 (taking up arms against the state) and decided that the committee constituted by the sessions judge concerned in the merged districts and the prosecution will decide about the nature and cognisability of cases in relations to offences punishable under PPC sections 121, 121-A and 122.

The committee and prosecution will decide in respect of all cases including bail matters, whether the same are triable by Sessions Judges as per column No 8 of Second Schedule to the Code of Criminal Procedure or by the ATC under section 6 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

The meeting decided that the committee and the prosecution should accordingly send the cases to the sessions judge concerned or the anti-terrorism court concerned.

The ATCs will decide on case to case basis whether such offences fall within the meaning of terrorism. For the purpose, they will read Section 6 along with relevant provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act with sections 121, 121- A and 122 of the PPC to decide such controversy as the mixed question of law and facts.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2019