Intervention in economic affairs

Indubitably, Pakistan has seen an unchecked flight of financial resources out of the country. Money laundering, tax evasion, and tax avoidance whether on grand or minute scales are common features of economic transactions. From the small shopkeeper to the mill owner, people regularly connive about ways to escape having to pay money to the national kitty. This is akin to robbing the country of its due financial payments, which would ultimately be used to improve quality of living for citizens — but not all people see it that way. The counterargument is that representatives of the government receiving that funding are some of the most corrupt of all citizens and consequently, the funds are embezzled. Having continued for decades now, the saga indeed requires intervention. In some regards, the intention behind the Supreme Court’s announcement that it will form a committee of tax and legal experts to pull funds from foreign lands is legitimate. However, there are some caveats to be explored, including deeper reasons as to why the problem exists in the first place.

With regard to the committee, the honourable court is perhaps not equipped with the intricate economic understanding to undertake a drastic intervention. It is one matter to seat experts on the panel but they may or may not be mindful of the various reasons at play as to why people will not return money to Pakistan. There is lack of trust for investors as regulations to benefit and protect their assets are lacking. Putting up a fight with government and legal offices is an excruciating ordeal for the ordinary citizen here. The SC may certainly need to be involved in some matters but perhaps a decent starting point would be to implore departments tasked with this responsibility to do their jobs better in the way of retrieving money — all the while holding accountable government members themselves that are part of the problem.

A further oddity is the timing of such an intervention with the general elections right around the corner. Court intervention in economic affairs may be an ominous step and one that could go down as half helpful in light of the global criticism our past leadership have faced.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 22^nd, 2018.

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