High courts are instructed by the constitutional bench to refer outstanding cases against the super tax to the Supreme Court.

ISLAMABAD: On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s Constitutional Bench ordered the High Courts of Islamabad and Lahore to forward all ongoing appeals over the imposition of the Super Tax to the highest court.
A five-member constitutional bench, presided over by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan and consisting of Justices Jamal Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Shahid Bilal Hasan, heard the super tax case. Attorneys pointed out that appeals were still pending in the High Courts of Lahore and Islamabad.

Makhdoom Ali Khan, a private company attorney, told the court that the Supreme Court is empowered by the Constitution to take on issues that are still pending. He clarified that the authority to transfer cases has been explicitly delineated since the constitutional change.

The lawyer said that even an oral request from the court might be taken into consideration when Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar asked if a written request would be necessary for the transfer of cases. He went on to say that he believed the court may potentially use its suo-motu powers to transfer the cases.

Article 187 would be taken into consideration while evaluating the transfer of cases.

Makhdoom Ali Khan underlined that the super tax cannot be imposed by the government directly. For a super tax to be imposed, there must be extraordinary circumstances and a valid reason for the tax. Additionally, he noted that the Supreme Court has ruled in several cases that extra taxes are illegal, stating that doing so is a violation of basic rights.

Following the hearing, the constitutional bench postponed the hearing to tomorrow and directed that the Supreme Court receive the ongoing appeals pertaining to the super tax from the High Courts of Islamabad and Lahore.

The top court’s constitutional bench, which was considering petitions against a super tax imposed during a military operation, was reconfigured on Monday when Justice Aamer Farooq, a high court judge who had heard the case, recused himself.

A five-member CB headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan heard petitions from a range of groups and individuals against a 2015 supertax imposed by the PML-N government to raise money for housing internally displaced persons as a result of Operation Zarb-e-Azb.

Justice Khan stated right away that the CB would need to be reorganized since Justice Aamer Farooq, a bench member, had heard the matter while serving as a judge of the Islamabad High Court.

The CB declared that the matter will be heard every day of the hearing and denied a plea to postpone it until after Ramadan.