PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court has suspended call-up notices issued by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to several industrial units situated in erstwhile tribal areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in connection with an inquiry initiated for alleged tax fraud by the companies in those areas.

A bench consisting of Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Babar Sattar issued notices to respondents including the FIA director general, its Islamabad director and a deputy director of its anti-corruption circle, seeking their response to a petition filed by several of the industrial units of former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata) against the said inquiry.

The bench directed to club the petition with an earlier one on the same matter, fixed for next hearing on Oct 6, 2026, with the direction that the operation of the impugned call-up notices should remain suspended.

The petitioners including M/S Bara Ghee Mills and several others have requested the court to declare as illegal the impugned notices issued to them on Sep 3, 2026; an earlier letter of the interior division of directing to conduct a criminal inquiry against private taxpayers; and, all proceedings of the ‘so-called’ joint inquiry team.

Petitioners claim the investigation agency lacks jurisdiction to conduct criminal probe

They sought declaration of the court that FIA had no jurisdiction to inquire into or investigate assessment, exemption, consumption certificates, post-dated cheques, quotas or audit under Sales Tax Act, 1990, and Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, save where a particular scheduled offence was first shown.

They prayed the court to declare that a Senate Sub-Committee on Interior couldn’t without a report adopted by the parent standing committee under Rule 183 and without a reference by the house, set FIA in motion against taxpayers in a field allocated to finance/Federal Board of Revenue.

They stated that the impugned notices were contrary to Section 160 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), FIA rules 3 and 4 of 2002 and different judgements of the high court delivered on issuance of consumption certificates.

They requested for setting aside the impugned notices and restraining FIA, its officers and a joint inquiry team from summoning the petitioners, seizing or copying their records, placing their directors on any list or converting the inquiry into an FIR against them on the same general allegations.

Advocates Isaac Ali Qazi and Saad Ali Qazi appeared for the petitioners and stated that their clients were limited companies that had established their manufacturing units in the erstwhile Fata/Pata.

They said that the petitioners’ tax affairs were regulated under the concessionary regime prevailing at the relevant time pursuant to the Sales Tax Act, 1990, as well as the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

They stated that the grievances of petitioners arose from the impugned notices issued by FIA, purportedly under Section 160 CrPC, asking them and scores of other industrial units to produce, from the date of incorporation, factory records, goods declarations, letters of credit, production, sales, inland revenue consumption certificates and tax paid outside exempted areas.

They said that the notices referred to criminal inquiry on account of alleged tax evasion on imported material said to involve Rs1120 billion in tax exempt areas of erstwhile Fata/Pata.

They said that a reference was also made to Senate Sub-Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control about starting the inquiry, which was conveyed through a letter by the ministry of interior on Aug 18, 2026, following a meeting on Aug 10, 2026.

They contended that FIA had no jurisdiction to determine tax liability, much less allege tax fraud, as an appropriate statutory mechanism had been provided under both Sales Tax Act and Income Tax Ordinance. They argued that the said special laws could not be bypassed.

They said that FIA Act, 1974, didn’t list any of the offences mentioned in the notices as scheduled offences.

It merits a mention that the sub-committee of Senate Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control, had directed FIA to conduct an inquiry into Rs1,120 billion in consumption certificates issued to different companies and to complete it within two months.

The direction was given when the parliamentary body was discussing the matter related to tax exemption mechanisms in erstwhile Fata/Pata. It had reviewed issuance of consumption certificates by FBR and Customs for imported raw material exempted from taxes.

The committee had noted that non-taxable raw material valued at Rs1,120 billion entered in those areas between 2018 and 2026. It apprehended that there were risks of illegal diversion of the said raw material into taxable markets.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2026