PESHAWAR, May 22: A Peshawar High Court bench on Tuesday ordered the release of a Khyber Agency tribesman detained in Haripur prison after being sentenced by a local administration in a kidnapping case.

While announcing the verdict, the bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth said it couldn’t leave locals at the mercy of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas’ political agents misusing and abusing their authority.

It overruled the argument of the Fata administration’s lawyer about the bar on the superior courts’ jurisdiction over in the tribal region and said under Article 1 of the Constitution, tribal areas were part of Pakistan and it could hear cases related to it.

The chief justice observed how they could shut their eyes to abuse and misuse of authority by political agents in Fata.

“Constitution being an organic law is not to be interpreted in a piecemeal manner but all provisions contained therein have to be taken jointly, particularly in cases when there are un-condonable violations of human rights or authority vested in political agent is grossly abused,” he said.

Samiullah Afridi, lawyer for the petitioner, said he was sentenced on two counts under sections 365 (kidnapping) and 411 (receiving of stolen property) of Pakistan Penal Code. He further said on both counts, the APA sentenced the petitioner to seven years rigorous imprisonment, but said the two sentences would run consecutively and therefore, his prison term in fact amounted to 14 years.

Mr Afridi said the APA had acted as magistrate and under Section 35 of the Code of Criminal Procedure he was not empowered to sentence the petitioner to more than seven years imprisonment. He added that the petitioner had presently been imprisoned at Haripur Central Prison and had spent almost 10 years in prison and the court may set him free.

Iqbal Durrani, lawyer for Fata administration, said under Article 247 of the Constitution, a high court could not exercise jurisdiction in tribal areas. He referred to a judgment of the Supreme Court of 2010 saying in that verdict, a three-member bench had ruled that the superior courts could not exercise jurisdiction in Fata.

Mr Durrani said under the previous Section 12 of the Frontier Crimes Regulation, prior to the amendments to it in 2011, the political agent had the powers to award sentence of up to 14 years. However, the bench observed that in that case, the political agent had to seek the approval of the FCR commissioner.

The bench observed that in a judgment by a larger Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry in 2009, the court had assumed jurisdiction in tribal areas.

It said the petitioner had spent almost 10 years in the prison and if the remissions announced by the government during that period were also counted, then he had spent around 15 years in the prison.

The bench ordered the prison administration to set him free if he was not required in any other case.

It ruled that in the case, not only mandatory provision of FCR but also Section 35 of CrPC was violated and in that way, the liberty of a person had been curtailed absolutely in disregard of law.