FBR challengesPHC tobacco firms'de-sealing order

ISLAMABAD:

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has approached the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) challenging the Peshawar High Court (PHC) order directing the de-sealing of three tobacco companies.

The FBR, through its counsel Hafiz Ahsaan Ahmad Khokhar, has filed a petition before the FCC against the PHC's December 18, 2025 judgment, which directed the revenue authority to de-seal three tobacco companies in the province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

Challenging the PHC judgment, the FBR contends that the high court exceeded the limits of its constitutional jurisdiction by entertaining the writ petitions despite the existence of adequate and efficacious alternate statutory remedies provided under Sections 33, 34 and 35 of the Federal Excise Act, 2005, which establish a complete statutory hierarchy for adjudication, appeal and revision.

According to the department, the judgment contradicts the well-settled doctrine of exhaustion of remedies, consistently affirmed by the Supreme Court (including in 2022 SCMR 92), which holds that constitutional jurisdiction cannot ordinarily be invoked to circumvent remedies provided under a special fiscal statute.

The petition further submits that the high court interfered at a premature stage of the proceedings, even though only a show-cause notice had been issued and the adjudication process under Section 33 of the Federal Excise Act had not yet culminated in a final determination of liability.

The department argues that issuing a show-cause notice merely initiates adjudicatory proceedings and does not constitute a final adverse order amenable to challenge under Article 199 of the Constitution.

The FBR has also challenged the high court's interpretation of the statutory expression "reason to believe" contained in Rule 28A(6) of the Federal Excise Rules.