ISLAMABAD: A five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court is set to hear petitions challenging Sections 4B and 4C of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, starting Monday (March 10).
The bench, led by Justice Aminuddin Khan, includes Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Aamer Farooq.
A total of 354 petitions have been filed against Section 4B, while 182 petitions challenge Section 4C of the ordinance.
The Super Tax, introduced under Section 4B through the Finance Act 2015, was imposed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government. It targeted wealthy individuals, associations of persons, and companies earning over Rs500 million annually. The tax rate was set at 4% for banking companies and 3% for other categories, aiming to fund the rehabilitation of temporarily displaced persons under the Finance Bill 2015-16.
Earlier, on April 23 and 24, a three-judge bench, led by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and including Justices Athar Minallah and Irfan Saadat, raised concerns over high courts’ delays in issuing final rulings on the Super Tax imposed under Section 4C.
During the hearings, Dr. Shah Nawaz, representing the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), informed the court that intra-court appeals (ICAs) on the matter are still pending in the Lahore High Court (LHC) and the Islamabad High Court (IHC). The IHC is scheduled to take up these appeals on May 28.
