PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday directed the federal government to submit a report within 14 days on the non-provision of billions of rupees in National Finance Commission (NFC) Award shares to the merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The two-member bench, comprising Justice Naeem Anwar and Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel, issued the directive while hearing a petition filed against the alleged deprivation of NFC allocations to the merged tribal districts.
Former provincial finance minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra was represented by Advocate Ali Gohar Durrani.
During the hearing, Advocate Durrani informed the court that the petition sought directives for holding regular NFC meetings as mandated by the Constitution, as well as convening a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) without delay.
The petition nominated the President of Pakistan, the federal government, the federal finance secretary, the NFC, the CCI, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary and others as respondents.
Durrani argued that the former Fata had suffered decades of terrorism, resulting in severe human and economic losses and leaving the region underdeveloped. Following the 25th Constitutional Amendment in 2018, these areas were formally merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with the understanding—based on the recommendations of the Fata Reforms Committee—that the federal government would provide Rs90 billion annually from the NFC Award to support reconstruction and development.
However, he told the court that the federal government had failed to fulfill this constitutional obligation.
Durrani added that after the merger, administrative and financial responsibilities of the region were transferred to the provincial government, increasing its financial burden. As a result, the province struggled to pay employee salaries and development work had come to a halt due to the non-release of funds.
petitioner noted that the National Economic Council had decided on May 24, 2018, to present the financing issue of the merged districts before the National Security Committee.
this, and despite political commitments made during the merger process, the federal government has not provided the promised 3 percent NFC share to the merged districts.
Durrani submitted that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa generated a substantial portion of national revenue, yet remained deprived of its due financial share.
He pointed out that no NFC-related meeting had been held since 2022, whereas previously such meetings were held twice a year.
Durrani added that a special development committee for former Fata had passed a resolution supporting the allocation of 3 percent NFC share for the merged districts, but no implementation had followed.
The petitioner, a regular taxpayer, maintained that he had the constitutional right to access information about the use of tax revenues.
He, therefore, requested the court to order the federal government to convene NFC and CCI meetings so that KP and the merged districts receive their rightful share.
