Ministry claims special laws take precedent over Constitution
Law ministry backs FBR’s viewpoint that tax information cannot be shared with a Senate panel
PHOTO: AFP
ISLAMABAD:
In an apparent bid to keep the tax record of the family members of deposed premier Nawaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar secret from parliament, the law ministry has claimed that special laws take precedent over the Constitution of Pakistan.
In a legal opinion presented before the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, the ministry on Tuesday, the ministry backed the viewpoint of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) that tax information cannot be shared with a Senate panel.
The committee’s chairman Saleem Mandviwalla and some of its members, however, termed the law ministry’s legal opinion ‘unconstitutional’. They were of the view that the Constitution empowers parliament to seek any information from government departments.
“Tax details cannot be provided unless the law permits it or courts order its production,” said FBR Chairman Tariq Pasha while citing the Ministry of Law and Justice’s legal opinion. The Constitution permits confidentiality, ensured under special laws like Income Tax Ordinance of 2001, he added.
Dar’s pre-2007 tax record missing, says FBR
In the previous meeting of the standing committee, the FBR had refused to cooperate with the committee in its probe into allegations that the FBR tampered with the tax records of members of the Sharif family and Dar before handing them over to the Joint Investigation Team (JIT). The JIT was investigating the ruling family’s offshore assets in line with the apex court’s April 20 order.
The finance minister’s tax record for the period between 2003 and 2007-08 was missing from the FBR database and Dar himself provided this record to the JIT, which cannot be treated as an official record.
This is the period when Dar’s assets increased 91-fold to Rs831 million, which, according to the JIT’s observations, was beyond his known sources of income.
On directives of the Supreme Court, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has already announced it would file a reference against Dar in an accountability court.
FBR declines Panama case-related info
The FBR has invoked a secrecy clause of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 in a bid to avoid sharing information related to the Panama Papers case with the Standing Committee. The FBR chairman said Section 216 of the Income Tax Ordinance ensures confidentiality of the information.
“Section 216 of the income tax law prevails over Article 66 of the Constitution,” an official of the Ministry of Law claimed before the standing committee.
Taking expectation to the view, panel member Senator Kamil Ali Agha said it was an established fact that the Constitution is supreme and no law can take precedence over the Constitution. The chairman said Article 66 (3) gives authority to the parliamentary panel to seek information.
“Provisions may be made by law for punishment, by the house, of persons who refuse to give evidence or produce documents before a committee of the house when duly required by the chairman of the committee to do so,” the provision says.
According to the Constitution, the only exception to this is when the president issues an order to safeguard confidential matters from disclosure.
Agha proposed that the committee should send the legal opinion of the Ministry of Law to the Chief Justice of Pakistan for interpretation in light of Article 66(3) of the Constitution. “The FBR has already submitted the tax information in the apex court and can no longer claim confidentiality,” he added.
He said this information was already in the public domain and the committee was seeking it through the official channels. Senator Saud Majeed of the PML-N opined that parliament should introduce new legislation to seek any kind of information, opining that without this, it would not be wise to force the FBR to turn over the tax record.
The committee decided to place the Ministry of Law’s opinion Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani for a ruling. Rabbani previously expressed support for the standing committee’s position.
In an apparent bid to keep the tax record of the family members of deposed premier Nawaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar secret from parliament, the law ministry has claimed that special laws take precedent over the Constitution of Pakistan.
In a legal opinion presented before the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, the ministry on Tuesday, the ministry backed the viewpoint of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) that tax information cannot be shared with a Senate panel.
The committee’s chairman Saleem Mandviwalla and some of its members, however, termed the law ministry’s legal opinion ‘unconstitutional’. They were of the view that the Constitution empowers parliament to seek any information from government departments.
“Tax details cannot be provided unless the law permits it or courts order its production,” said FBR Chairman Tariq Pasha while citing the Ministry of Law and Justice’s legal opinion. The Constitution permits confidentiality, ensured under special laws like Income Tax Ordinance of 2001, he added.
Dar’s pre-2007 tax record missing, says FBR
In the previous meeting of the standing committee, the FBR had refused to cooperate with the committee in its probe into allegations that the FBR tampered with the tax records of members of the Sharif family and Dar before handing them over to the Joint Investigation Team (JIT). The JIT was investigating the ruling family’s offshore assets in line with the apex court’s April 20 order.
The finance minister’s tax record for the period between 2003 and 2007-08 was missing from the FBR database and Dar himself provided this record to the JIT, which cannot be treated as an official record.
This is the period when Dar’s assets increased 91-fold to Rs831 million, which, according to the JIT’s observations, was beyond his known sources of income.
On directives of the Supreme Court, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has already announced it would file a reference against Dar in an accountability court.
FBR declines Panama case-related info
The FBR has invoked a secrecy clause of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 in a bid to avoid sharing information related to the Panama Papers case with the Standing Committee. The FBR chairman said Section 216 of the Income Tax Ordinance ensures confidentiality of the information.
“Section 216 of the income tax law prevails over Article 66 of the Constitution,” an official of the Ministry of Law claimed before the standing committee.
Taking expectation to the view, panel member Senator Kamil Ali Agha said it was an established fact that the Constitution is supreme and no law can take precedence over the Constitution. The chairman said Article 66 (3) gives authority to the parliamentary panel to seek information.
“Provisions may be made by law for punishment, by the house, of persons who refuse to give evidence or produce documents before a committee of the house when duly required by the chairman of the committee to do so,” the provision says.
According to the Constitution, the only exception to this is when the president issues an order to safeguard confidential matters from disclosure.
Agha proposed that the committee should send the legal opinion of the Ministry of Law to the Chief Justice of Pakistan for interpretation in light of Article 66(3) of the Constitution. “The FBR has already submitted the tax information in the apex court and can no longer claim confidentiality,” he added.
He said this information was already in the public domain and the committee was seeking it through the official channels. Senator Saud Majeed of the PML-N opined that parliament should introduce new legislation to seek any kind of information, opining that without this, it would not be wise to force the FBR to turn over the tax record.
The committee decided to place the Ministry of Law’s opinion Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani for a ruling. Rabbani previously expressed support for the standing committee’s position.