KP’S petition before the Federal Constitutional Court, seeking Rs964bn as the province’s claimed share of tax revenues since the Fata merger in 2018, may well be a political move by the PTI-led government. Still, it raises larger constitutional and fiscal questions about Pakistan’s federal structure, a dysfunctional National Finance Commission and distribution of fiscal resources among the provinces. The core issue is whether constitutional and fiscal arrangements can be left frozen indefinitely despite major changes in a province’s demographic and administrative realities. While the Fata merger increased KP’s responsibilities, the province’s share from the federal tax pool is unchanged, raising questions about fiscal........

© Dawn