LAHORE – The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) suspended Thursday a Lahore High Court’s (LHC) stay order against an additional tax on incoming calls to the country and directed the telecommunication companies to approach the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) to resolve the issue.
A two member bench comprising Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani and Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmani passed the orders on a petition moved by various telecommunication companies. The petitioners submitted that imposing and withdrawing the tax came under the CCP only while the LHC had issued a stay order suspending the additional income tax imposed by the federal government. They requested the court to suspend the LHC’s stay order as it didn’t have jurisdiction to suspend the notifications imposing any type of taxes in presence of the CCP. The divisional bench accepted the petitioners’ request and suspended the LHC’s stay order. In October 2012, LHC Justice Ijazul Ahsan granted the stay order on a petition moved by a Lahore based Local Loop Operator (LLO) Brain Telecommunication limited challenging the additional tax on incoming calls.