GIDC ball is now in judiciary’s court

Applications will be filed in the Supreme Court as well as the Sindh High Court today: sources

ISLAMABAD: After the government Wednesday decision to withdraw a presidential ordinance waiving over Rs200 billion Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC), the ball is the superior judiciary’s court.

A senior official revealed to The Express Tribune that applications will be filed in the Supreme Court as well as the Sindh High Court today (Thursday) for early hearing of the GIDC case.

The GIDC was earlier levied in 2011 by then federal government by enacting the GIDC Act 2011.

Its objective was to develop different energy projects, including the Iran Pakistan (IP) Gas Pipelines Project, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (Tapi) Pipelines Project, the LNG Import Project and the LPG Supply Enhancement Project.

The IDC was declared unconstitutional by the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on June 13, 2013, and the judgment was also upheld by the Supreme Court on Aug 22, 2014.

Later on, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led government brought new legislation on this issue in 2015. It was also challenged in the PHC and the SHC.

In 2016, the SHC while exercising civil suit jurisdiction declared the GIDC as ultra vires of the Constitution but in May 2017, the PHC held that GIDC was legal.  Meanwhile, the aggrieved companies approached the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) against the PHC order.

In August, 2017, a three-judge bench of apex court led by former chief justice Mian Saqib Nisar took up the matter wherein renowned lawyer Khalid Anwar appeared before the court. The SC granted leave to appeal against the PHC verdict.  Despite passage of two years, matter is still pending decision.

The issue is also pending in SHC wherein the federal government challenged a single bench’s verdict against the GIDC. Interestingly, the government did not move any application in the apex court and the SHC seeking an early decision.

Legal experts believe that the apex court should give final ruling in the case which is pending since long.

A senior government official said though the government has withdrawn ordinance but it would have profound repercussions on national economy. “If we get judgment in our favour from superior courts then there is no guarantee of the recovery of billions of rupees amount in the name of cess,” he adds.

A former top law officer said that the PTI led government poorly handled this issue. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan did not send a good message by withdrawing the ordinance.

“If they promulgated ordinance then they should have stood its grounds and allowed the opponents to challenge it in the superior courts,” he added.

A former law officer said after the withdrawal of ordinance, no one will go for out of court settlement on any matters with the incumbent government.   “If the government could not take pressure in this matter then how it will go for out of court settlements on the critical issues, in which the country is facing billions of dollars awards by international tribunals,” he said.

He lamented that companies have hired renowned lawyers to plead their case in superior courts but the government has no plan for ending this prolonged litigation on the GIDC.