Illegal trade on Pak-Afghan border more dangerous than hydrogen bomb: CJ

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Jawwad S Khawaja observed on Tuesday that illegal trade on the Torkham and Chaman borders was more dangerous than a hydrogen bomb.
In a shocking revelation, the Supreme Court was informed that the volume of illegal trade at the Pak-Afghan border at Torkham was Rs100 to 150 million per day while goods worth millions of dollars are seized from the border every month but no government department keeps any record of it.
In order to eliminate this menace at the border, the six statutes, including the FIA Act, 1974, Foreigners Act, 1946, Exit from Pakistan (Control) Ordinance, 1981, Passport Act, 1974, Immigration Ordinance 1979 and Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance 2002, which facilitate action have not been extended to Fata.
Additional Advocate General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Omar Farooq Adam, one of the members of the border commission, in his personal capacity, submitted a report before a three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja in the case of human trafficking.
The court on August 21, 2015, constituted two commissions to monitor the check posts at Torkham and Chaman, bordering Afghanistan, and sought a report on illegal immigration.
The commission members including Additional Attorney General Muhammad Waqar Rana, Omar Farooq Adnan, Additional Advocate General, KP, Jaffer Shah, Director FIA, along with Customs officers and Assistant Advocate General Balochistan were tasked to monitor the situation at Torkham and Chaman borders.
The court had directed the commission to submit a comprehensive report with photographs of check posts and Customs desk at these borders by September 1.
The report revealed that the ready-to-use SIMs used by the terrorists who attacked the Army Public School in Peshawar were brought from Torkham which were once used in Torkham and then during the attack on the APS school.
It was further submitted in the report that if Customs officials apprehend a person he pays a minimum of Rs1.5 million to transfer the case to political agent.
It was further revealed that the undocumented economy generated between the Torkham border, Bara and the hawala mandi market at Chowk Yadgar, Peshawar, is between 5 to 6 billion rupees per month.
The report further revealed that there are 16 passes into Pakistan in Khyber Agency, adding that the vehicle passes are Torkham and Shalman, which is 15 kilometres east of Torkham.
According to the report, the six statutes for taking legal action to curb the illegal immigration, human trafficking, smuggling etc at the borders are being violated as these statutes are not yet extended to the Fata.
The court directed chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Attorney General for Pakistan to submit a comprehensive report by September 7 as to what steps were taken by the government for the purpose to eliminate the menace at the borders whereby violation of the six statutes was going on that needs action and legislation.
The court directed that the report should have the details of the steps taken in this regard in the past 15 years.
During the hearing, Jaffer Shah, Director Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), to a court query submitted that the contents given in the report regarding the FIA were correct.
Additional Attorney General Muhammad Waqar Rana told the court that the six statues were not yet extended to the Fata. He submitted that as he went straight to the Chaman border from the Torkham border and had arrived in Islamabad late night, hence he would submit the report on the Chaman border in a few days.
The court, however, directed the additional attorney general to submit the report by today (Wednesday).
Justice Dost Muhammad Khan observed that anti-terrorism law had not yet been extended to the Fata, which is most affected by terrorism.
Justice Jawwad noted that the report of the Torkham border presents an alarming situation showing that there was no effective state machinery present at the border to enforce the relevant laws of Pakistan.
“It indicates that the six statues are not yet extended to the Fata. Since Torkham is in Fata, hence it’s legally impossible for the government to enforce the law,” the court noted.
“We are surprised as to why such laws have not been extended to Fata because without enforcing such laws, there can be no expectation of an improvement,” the court observed.
The court further noted that on December 25, 2014, the government had issued the National Action Plan which envisioned steps to be taken against the threats of terrorism faced by the country, financing of terrorist organisations and money laundering, etc.
“Since nine months have passed when the National Action Plan was introduced, we have been informed that a summary for extending the relevant laws (statues) has been moved, however it is not yet approved and all we know it may be getting dust in the concerned ministry,” the court noted in its order.