ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking elimination of Riba or Interest from the financial system of the country.
The three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Mian Saqib Nisar heard a petition against October 6, 2015 order filed by Ameer Tanzeem-e-Islami Pakistan Hafiz Akif Saeed.
The court while dismissing the petition remarked that the court had already referred the application on elimination of Riba to the Federal Shariat Court.
The petitioner stated that according to Article 38-F of the Constitution, it was the duty of state to eliminate Riba as early as possible but the state had failed to enforce the Constitution for this purpose.
The counsel said that it was beyond the jurisdiction of FSC to give direction to the state for the implementation of Article 38-F of the Constitution, adding that the constitutional authority available to the SC was much wider as compared to FSC.
In 1992, the FSC had declared interest or Riba repugnant to the injunctions of Islam.
Later in 1999, hearing an appeal against the decision, the Supreme Court's Shariat Appellate Bench had also upheld the FSC decision and gave the then government two years to amend all the banking laws of the country and other statutes to prohibit Riba.
However, the government and some banks had instituted a review petition before the Supreme Court bench, headed by then Chief Justice Sheikh Riaz, against the anti-Riba ruling.
The bench remanded the case in 2002 back to the FSC to reconsider the matter. The apex court also directed the FSC to take input from contemporary jurists of the Muslim world. The case is still pending before FSC.
Comments
Comments are closed.