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ISLAMABAD: The Constitutional Bench has issued the order to transfer all appeals pending before high courts against the super tax imposed on wealthy individuals.
The order was issued after the bench, for the first time, used its authority — under the Constitution — to transfer all intra-court appeals (ICAs) relating to the Super Tax pending in the high courts of Lahore and Islamabad.
The CB invoked Article 186(A), which was added to the Constitution after the 26th amendment last year.
The provision allows the Supreme Court to transfer cases from high courts “in the interest of justice”.
All appeals pending before high courts to be heard by SC; registrars ordered to send original case files
The set of petitions, which will now be heard by the CB, challenged the tax initially imposed on wealthy individuals and companies earning above Rs500 million in 2015, with the stated purpose of rebuilding the areas affected during Operation Zarb-i-Azb against terrorists in North Waziristan.
The ICAs and petitions challenged Sections 4B and 4C of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 under which the super tax was imposed. Headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, the five-judge CB ordered the Supreme Court office to send copies of its order to the registrars of Lahore and Islamabad high court (IHC).
The registrars will place the orders before the respective chief justices and in compliance, send original case files of immediately to the Supreme Court for further proceedings.
“In the present situation, the Supreme Court, in the case of exigency and in the interest of justice, may transfer any case, appeal or other proceedings pending before any High Court … for trying itself,” the order stated.
It added that a large number of cases on this issue were already pending before high courts, raising the issue of multiple proceedings.
The bench transferred the cases “to avoid any multiplicity of proceedings” and “to nip it in the bud”, the order added.
The CB order said the registrars of both high courts will inform complainants and respondents about the the transfer of cases to the CB through a common circular and will also issue ‘Court Motion Issue’ to the advocates of both parties through bailiff/by post/ email and SMS on the postal/email addresses and phone numbers.
During a hearing last week, senior counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan, who was representing a number of complainant companies, said a single-judge bench of the Islamabad High Court decided challenges to sections 4B and 4C of the ITO.
However, appeals against the judgments were pending.
The statement was also confirmed by Additional Attorney General (AAG) Chaudhry Aamir Rehman.
He added that ICAs by Attock Oil Company Ltd and Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd were pending in IHC without any progress and there was no likelihood of that they will be decided in the near future.
Advocate Shahzad Ata Elahi said some writ petitions, challenging the provisions of Section 4C of ITO, were also pending in the LHC.
Some lawyers also expressed concerns that if the present bunch of cases were taken up for hearing, it will also affect the pending cases.
Other counsels, representing the tax authorities, as well as the AAG didn’t object to the for transfer of all petitions and ICAs to the Supreme Court.
Before the 26th Constitutional Amendment, the Supreme Court was empowreed to transfer cases from one high court to other. However, the amendment added Article 186A to the Constitution, giving SC the power to transfer cases to itself.
The super tax — introduced by the PML-N government through the federal budget in 2015 — levied a rate of 4 per cent on the income of banks and 3pc on other sectors as a one-time cess.
However, despite the lapse of many years, the super tax was still intact.
Last week, the CB was reconstituted after one of the judges, Justice Aamer Farooq, recused himself as he had already given a decision on the super tax when he was the IHC chief justice.
The reconstituted bench comprises justices Aminuddin Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Mohammad Ali Mazhar, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Shahid Bilal Hassan.
Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2025
