KARACHI: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Friday rejected the notion that the country was headed towards bankruptcy and asked the government to adopt measures to stem foreign currency smuggling.

CJP Bandial made this observation in response to the remarks made by counsel for the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Faisal Siddiqui at the hearing of a petition challenging the Lahore High Court’s bar on the taxman from collection of a “super tax” from industries, according to Dawn.com.

A three-member bench, headed by Justice Bandial, resumed proceedings of the FBR petition challenging the LHC bar on the taxman from moving to collect a “super tax” from industries, Dawn.com reported.

The top court sought to club all pleas related to the super tax so they could be heard together. At the previous hearing on Feb 6, the SC modified the interim order of the high court and directed wealthy taxpayers to deposit half of their super tax dues directly with the FBR within a week.

At the start of the hearing, the FBR counsel told the SC the high court had suspended the implementation of its final decision into the case for 60 days.

Barrister Farogh Naseem, representing the companies, argued all FBR petitions against the LHC’s interim order had become ineffective, especially after the announcement of the provincial court’s final decision.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2023