KP’s narcotics control law challenged in SC

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has challenged the anti-narcotics law passed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A three-member bench, headed by Justice Mushir Alam, heard the case on Monday. The court summoned a reply from the KP government by next week.

The Anti-Narcotics Force said the Centre has the authority to make laws on narcotics control. The Centre’s law on narcotics control no longer applies to the KP government because of the new law, said the ANF’s lawyer, adding that all pending cases have been declared null and void by this action.

The Centre passed its law in 1997 keeping in mind the international conventions and laws, he said. The provincial government has overlooked Article 143 (inconsistency between federal and provincial Law) of the Constitution.

The KP Control of Narcotics Substance Act, 2019 was passed on September 6, 2019. It imposed heavy fines and prison terms for those involved in the narcotics trade