• Court docket hears dispute between Centre, province over anti-drugs laws
• Plea moved by federal govt argues presence of provincial regulation might ‘add to authorized problems’
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court docket (FCC) was instructed on Thursday that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s having its personal narcotics regulation, along with the Management of Narcotics Substances Act (CNSA) 1997, would solely undermine the federal authorities’s anti-drug efforts and would possibly add to authorized problems.
The arguments have been superior by the federal authorities earlier than a two-judge FCC bench comprising Justices Ali Baqar Najafi and Muhammad Karim Khan Agha.
The bench was listening to a petition collectively moved by the federal authorities and the Anti-Narcotics Drive (ANF) searching for to put aside the KP Management of Narcotics Substances Act 2019.
The controversy revolves round whether or not a province can enact a parallel narcotics regulation within the presence of Part 71 of the CNSA 1997 — a transfer that the petitioners argue “undermines the federal authorities’s authority to legislate”.
Filed towards the backdrop of KP’s parallel laws, regardless of the CNSA 1997 already being in impact, the petition requested the FCC to interpret the manager powers of each the federal and provincial governments beneath the Structure.
The petition argued that the federal authorities performed an important function in controlling and eliminating the narcotics risk within the nation, significantly within the processing and trafficking of heroin and charas.
It said that the federal authorities had already taken efficient measures to fight all elements of the multifaceted drug downside since lengthy.
‘Not a dispute’
Through the listening to, Barrister Syed Ali Zafar, representing the KP authorities, argued that the matter didn’t characterize a dispute between the federal and provincial governments, because the regulation was duly enacted by the KP Meeting.
In response, Extra Legal professional Common (AAG) Chaudhry Aamir Rehman questioned how a provincial regulation may repeal a federal laws.
He added that when a province established its personal drive or company to implement such a regulation, a dispute between the federal and provincial governments was certain to erupt.
The FCC adjourned additional proceedings till subsequent week.
‘Complete regulation’
The petition expressed the priority that the provincial regulation repealed the CNSA 1997 inside KP to the extent of cultivation, possession, sale, buy, supply, and transportation of narcotics.
It termed the KP regulation a “mala fide” and “colorable” train of energy, searching for its declaration as unlawful.
It said that licensing authority for import, export, inside transport, manufacturing, and transshipment of narcotic medication fell inside the purview of the federal authorities beneath the CNSA 1997.
The provincial regulation, the petition contended, would create critical authorized and constitutional chaos, together with duplication of particular courts, overlapping jurisdiction, and battle of authority with different regulation enforcement companies. This, the plea added, may result in a authorized and constitutional disaster.
The petition argued that the CNSA 1997 was a complete regulation relevant throughout Pakistan to curb the menace of narcotics as airports, dry ports, seaports, and land borders fell beneath the unique management of the federal authorities, which exercised its jurisdiction by way of the ANF.
It contended that as narcotics trafficking was not solely a cross-border offense however one with regional and worldwide implications, solely a federal company may successfully take care of the menace, because the jurisdiction of provincial forces prolonged solely inside its borders.
The petition additional argued that within the presence of a federal regulation enacted by parliament inside its legislative competence beneath Articles 90 and 142 and Entries 3, 26, 27, 32, and 58 of the Federal Legislative Checklist, any provincial regulation can be contradictory and thus void.
Printed in Daybreak, January sixteenth, 2026
