The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has challenged the extension of the 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award in the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), arguing that the province’s financial share has not been revised following the merger of the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) into KP under the 25th Constitutional Amendment.
According to the petition, KP maintains that while the 7th NFC Award formula itself does not need to be changed, it should be applied to the province in its post-merger constitutional form. The provincial government argues that the merged districts’ population, geographical area, and development needs have not been reflected in the current resource distribution, resulting in a financial shortfall.
KP Adviser to the Chief Minister on Finance, Muzammil Aslam, said the province is seeking a judicial determination on whether its share under the NFC Award should be increased to reflect its expanded size and responsibilities. He claimed the province has suffered an estimated Rs964 billion loss due to the continued use of pre-merger calculations.
The Federal Constitutional Court has admitted the petition and is expected to examine constitutional questions related to the implementation of Article 160 and the financial implications of the 2018 FATA merger. The outcome could have significant implications for fiscal relations between the federation and the provinces.
