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The federal government must take strict action to stop the importation of foreign currency, according to a ruling by Pakistan’s Supreme Court.
The petition regarding the imposition of a super tax was heard on Friday by a three-member bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Atta Bandial.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) counsel spoke in favour of the FBR during the hearing and assured the court that he would also represent the federation if the nation went bankrupt.
Asserting that “Pakistan is not going bankrupt, everyone needs to improve themselves for the sake of the country,” Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial rejected this assertion.
The companies’ counsel Barrister Faroogh Nasim interrupted saying that after the verdict of the high court, all FBR’s applications have become infructuous and the court can not order them to pay 50% super tax.
The CJP also mentioned that nearly four crore dollars are being smuggled illegally every day, which needs to be stopped. He directed the federal government to take strict measures to halt the smuggling of foreign currency.
Companies including Shell Pakistan had approached the Lahore High Court against the super tax, and the high court had granted an exemption to private companies from paying the super tax.
The FBR challenged this order in the Supreme Court, which directed all super tax cases to be consolidated and fixed for next week, adjourning the hearing until February 16.
