CB orders transfer of tax appeals from high courts

ISLAMABAD:

For the first time after the 26th Constitutional Amendment, the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court exercised the powers under Article 186A of the Constitution on Wednesday and ordered the transfer of the pending intra-court appeals related to super tax in the two high courts to the bench.

A five-member Constitutional Bench headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan gave the order while hearing the appeals against super tax. The court ordered the registrars of both the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and the Lahore High Court (LHC) to provide list and records of the pending tax intra-court appeals.

At the outset of the hearing, Makhdoom Ali Khan, the lawyer for various companies, pointed out that cases were pending in the high courts. He added that the Supreme Court had the constitutional powers to transfer pending cases to it.

Sitting on the bench, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar asked whether a written application would be required for the transfer of the cases. On that Makhdoom Ali Khan replied that under Article 186A, the Supreme Court had the constitutional authority to refer a case from a high court to the Supreme Court.

Khan further said in his arguments that the government could not directly impose the super tax, as it was mandatory to give a reason for such a levy. He added that there must be exceptional circumstances for levying the super tax.

The lawyer argued that the Supreme Court had declared additional tax as invalid in its several decisions, adding that imposing additional tax was also against fundamental rights. The court ordered the transfer of appeals and adjourned the hearing until Thursday (today).