Pakistan is not going bankrupt, says top judge

Asks govt to adopt measures to stop foreign currency smuggling.

 

ISLAMABAD    -      Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Fri­day asked the federal govern­ment to adopt measures to stop foreign currency smuggling. The Chief Justice remarked this while heading a three-mem­ber bench comprising on Jus­tice Ayesha A Malik and Justice Athar Minallah which heard the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) petition challenging the Lahore High Court (LHC) order regarding collection of Super Tax from large scale industries. 

The gov­ernment had imposed a one-time ten percent tax on indus­tries’ profits to ease the impact of the rising inflation on the poor.

During the course of proceed­ings, the court consolidated all the Super Tax cases and fixed them for hearing next week.

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The FBR counsel Faisal Sid­diqui said that the LHC had sus­pended the implementation of its final decision in the case for 60 days. There were traditions in tax cases where the court or­ders companies to pay 50 per­cent of the tax, he added.

Barrister Farogh Naseem, counsel for the industries, said that all petitions of the FBR against the LHC’s interim order had become ineffective after the final decision of the Lahore High Court. The court could not order payment of 50 percent Super Tax after petitions be­come ineffective, he added. 

The Chief Justice said the case could be fixed for the hearing next week. He remarked that the FBR imposed the Super Tax in good faith. He said that it was also known that Shell Pakistan, one of the petitioners, paid tax­es in the millions of rupees.

Advocate Faisal Siddiqui said that he was representing the FBR. He said that he would also represent the federal govern­ment if the country went into default. Upon this, the Chief Justice said that the country was not going bankrupt. “Ev­eryone needs to improve them­selves in the better interest of the country,” he added.

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He said that four million dol­lars were going out of Paki­stan illegally every day. “We just need to get organised and take action,” he added. He said that the situation could im­prove if the government took steps to stop the smuggling of foreign currency abroad. Later, the hearing of the case was ad­journed till February 16.