SC to hold regular hearing in cases relating to Gas Development Infrastructure Cess – Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has decided to hold a regular day-to-day hearing in cases related to the Cess of Gas Development Infrastructure (GIDC) starting next Thursday.

The decision was made by a court of three Supreme Court judges composed of Judge Mushir Alam, Judge Faisal Arab and Judge Syed Mansoor Ali Shah when he resumed the hearing on Thursday. However, the procedure was postponed until next week at the request of lead attorney Munir A. Malik.

Attached to a video link of the Supreme Court Karachi record, lawyer Malik first offered his condolences for the disappearance of a relative of President Alam judge and then asked the court to suspend the process until Tuesday of next week in view of the annual elections of the Bar Association of the Supreme Court (SCBA), saying that he was ashamed to make such a request.

Judge Alam, however, noted that he had especially gone to court despite his family's commitments in view of the consideration that many lawyers would have come to discuss the matter.

"Is there any other difficulty in proceeding with the case or is the election the only reason?" Asked Judge Alam.

Makhdoom Ali Khan, who represents several CNG stations, said he was in the hands of the court no matter what decision was made.

When the court asked Attorney General Anwar Mansoor if he had any objection if the procedure was postponed, he replied that it really didn't matter if the hearing was postponed or if the court decided to proceed with the matter.

However, he made it clear that he would present the government's position in GIDC-related cases, even if it were not present in the courtroom, since someone would take notes for the government to explain the position.

The court, however, noted that it would not mention the SCBA elections as the reason for the postponement of the case, but would cite in its order the personal reason of the lawyer for the postponement of the case.

On October 22, the court summoned all pending cases related to the GIDC of different superior courts of the country and ordered the lawyers who advocated the cases of different clients to join the proceedings before the main court if they elected him in the Main seat or joined. video link

On September 6, the federal government through the AG had submitted a request to the higher court for a hearing out of turn of the pending cases of GIDC after Prime Minister Imran Khan withdrew the GIDC Ordinance (Amendment), 2019, and ordered the AG to move an urgent hearing request in the Supreme Court so that the matter can be decided as soon as possible, strictly in accordance with the law and the Constitution.

The issue regarding GIDC called attention when the current government enacted a controversial ordinance with an offer to grant a financial amnesty of Rs210 billion to large companies, including fertilizer sectors, general industry, IPP, generation companies, K -Electric and CNG.

A statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister admitted that from January 2012 to December 2018, the total amount caught in the GIDC litigation had increased to Rs417bn. The government's request to the Supreme Court had stated that the cases related to the GIDC Law 2015 involved huge sums of government revenue.

The matter had been pending since 2017 and petitions had been filed against the judgment passed by the Superior Court of Peshawar in defense of the principles of the law, the request said. "Due to the fact that a large amount of government revenue is trapped because of the current cases, the court is requested to deal with the cases out of turn," the request said.

Published on Dawn, November 1, 2019