PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court has issued notices to federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments seeking their response to pleas challenging the ongoing process to dissolve the Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB) and it devolution to provinces.

A bench consisting of Justice Syed Mohammad Attique Shah and Justice Inamullah Khan directed that the principal secretary to the prime minister, secretaries of the establishment division and ministry of national food security and the KP chief secretary should file their comments within a fortnight in two identical petitions filed by former and present employees of the PTB.

The bench fixed Feb 19 for the next hearing of the petitions, also issuing notices to the respondents in the plea of the petitioners seeking a stay order against the impugned decision.

The petitioners have requested the court to declare as illegal and unconstitutional the decision of the federal cabinet of Jan 1, 2025, in respect of winding up of the PTB without legislation of the Parliament and concurrence of the Council of Common Interest (CCI).

Petitioners claim decision taken without legislation by Parliament

They further requested the court to declare as illegal the process of transferring/entrusting essential functions of PTB and its devolution to provinces.

The petitioners also sought a declaration of the court to the effect that the PTB, being a self-generating and self-sustaining regulatory institution and receiving no federal grants etc, didn’t fall within the emblem of rightsizing and the terms of reference (ToRs) of the high powered committee on rightsizing constituted by the federal government.

One of the petitions was filed by PTB’s secretary Fakhruddin and 49 other employees. The other petition was filed by 50 former employees of the PTB including its ex-secretary Khan Faraz and others.

Advocate Aamir Javed and Barrister Saqib Raza appeared for the petitioners and stated that PTB had been established under the PTB Ordinance 1968 for promotion of the cultivation, manufacturing and export of tobacco and tobacco products and for matters ancillary thereof.

They stated that the said ordinance empowered the board to apply proceed of the cess paid to it for meeting the expenses which may be necessary for the performance of its functions.

They argued that it was evident from provisions of the law that PTB was a self-sustaining and self-generating federal regulatory entity that didn’t get any financial support from the federal exchequer rather it generated its own funds to meet its expenses.

They stated that the federal government in order to reduce its expenditure constituted a high-powered committee on rightsizing of the federal government through a notification on June 14, 2024.

They stated that the federal government in its impugned decision on Jan 1, 2025, considered and approved the proposal of the said rightsizing committee wherein it was proposed to transfer the essential functions of PTB to provinces and to wind up the PTB.

They added that a sub-committee of the rightsizing committee was tasked to oversee and supervise the expeditious implementation of the said decision.

Aamir Javed pointed out that Article 142 of the Constitution envisaged that the parliament should have exclusive power to make laws with respect to any matter in the Federal Legislative List to the Constitution. He added that the subject of tobacco had always remained a federal subject.

Moreover, he stated that under Article 154 of the Constitution CCI had been empowered to formulate and regulate policies in relation to matters in Part II of the Federal Legislative List.

He added that if any decision in respect of the PTB was to be undertaken, then the same was required under the law to be through the approval of CCI.

The respondents in the petition are: Federal government through principal secretary to the prime minister, secretaries of the cabinet, establishment, law and justice and finance divisions, federal finance minister, PTB through its chairman, secretary ministry of national food security and research and KP government through its chief secretary.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2025