Stay orders: a termite in justice system?

The federal minister for information and broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry while addressing a press conference this week claimed that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) could not recover Rs 3000 billion due to the ongoing cases in courts. “FBR is unable to recover money due to stay orders,” the minister stated, adding that the government respects all institutions and works in collaboration.

This is a big ‘disclosure’ by the minster while the figure of Rs 3000 billion is simply mind boggling, if not unbelievable. In US dollars terms, the amount is of $ 17 billion — nearly three times the $ 6 billion IMF loan Pakistan is struggling with.

The disclosure needs a better explanation from the information minister in terms of ageing of the stay orders/proceedings of the cases, the fairness and validity of FBR notices and claims, prompting court intervention.

The government’s silence and inaction on it and probably other issues of similar nature is not understandable. One wonders why the government does not put in its efforts to recover the money stuck in its backyard due to administrative and legal lapses than running around the globe to mobilise a few billion dollars from friendly countries and the IMF.

Pakistan could be described as one of the few countries where there is so much abundance and ease of securing stay orders from courts. Frequently, government’s writ is compromised and its plans are frustrated. The aborted Pakistan Steel Mills privatisation in 2007 and a little later the cancellation of award of Reko Diq mining project to a foreign investor are some of the bigger examples that resulted in severe financial and national image consequences — domestically and overseas.

The recent bigger example is the cancellation of the PTI government’s flagship Lahore Ravi River housing and commercial project by the Lahore High Court — only to be restored, a week later by the Supreme Court. In the process, the investor confidence has been shaken and lenders’ risk factors multiplied. The rationale of this phenomenon is beyond public comprehension.

There could be many more similar smaller and bigger examples but not in public knowledge like the one disclosed this week by the information minister about how tax collection is hamstrung by stay orders. The government finds itself at a crossroads because of mounting stay orders and depleting capacity of the courts to squarely handle matters of public interest. The nation with a fragile economy and mounting debt just cannot afford it.

The institutions of Pakistan when grouped together form a nation. Each institution is empowered to act in accordance with the constitution of the country and in the best public interest. One institution’s encroachment into the domain of the other disturbs the balance and rocks the whole system of governance. Each Institution must respect the domain of the other institutions to enable the state to function in the best public interest. Last but not least, indefinite stay orders in particular act like a termite in our justice system.

(The writer is former President, Overseas Investors Chambers of Commerce and Industry)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022