ISLAMABAD: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly enacted anti-narcotics legislation. The federal government challenged the law, and the Supreme Court on Friday sent the case to its three-member committee for the creation of a larger bench. An amicus curiae was also nominated by a three-judge bench headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah to support the court in this case.
In accordance with Article 184 (1) of the Constitution, the federal government submitted the petition. The Supreme Court’s authority to settle a disagreement between the federal and provincial governments is addressed under Article 184 (1).
The court questioned throughout the hearing whether the disagreement over provincial legislation qualified as a disagreement between two administrations.
The meaning of criminal law was another issue brought up by the court, which also stated that it would be discussed further during the proceedings. It went on, “This is the first case of its kind.”
Later, the bench referred the petition to a three-member SC committee established in light of the Supreme Court (Practices and Procedure) Act, 2023, in order to assemble a larger bench.
The K-P Control of Narcotic Substances Act, the province’s anti-drug law, has been changed twice in recent years by the K-P Assembly, on July 24, 2020, and March 31, 2022.
