Islamabad (Web Desk/Agencies): The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday clarified that it had not stopped the government to block the SIMs of tax non-filers.
“The previous order of the court had only stopped the action against the mobile company, IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Aamer Farooq observed while hearing the appeal of Federation seeking dismissal of stay order against blockage of SIM cards.
Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan appeared before the court.
At the outset of the hearing of a miscellaneous plea, the AGP said he had come to get the stay order on blocking of mobile phone SIMs dismissed.
To which, Justice Aamer Farooq remarked that the last order was not what it was reported in the media.
“The order didn’t stay the blockage of SIMs instead he stopped taking action against the private companies,” he said.
During the hearing, the IHC CJ asked that what action would be taken against a child if he was using a SIM card issued in his father’s name who was not a taxpayer. Similarly, what a poor working man, who was not a taxpayer, would do if his SIM card was blocked, he added.
The AGP responded that no notice would be issued to any poor person. He added that notices were being issued to the tax non-files since November 2023.
“If the person concerned satisfies the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) about his tax status, his / her SIM card will be restored,” he added.
The AGP prayed the court to withdraw its stay order regarding the blockage of SIMs.
The court served notices to the respondents and adjourned the hearing till May 22.
Earlier on May 14, it was reported in the media that IHC barred the federal government from blocking the SIMs of non-filers.
IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq led the proceedings of the petition filed by a private mobile and issued a stay order till May 27.
The development came days after the FBR and telecom operators agreed on blocking of SIMs of non-filers as part of the government's bid to curb tax evasion.
Advocate Salman Akram Raja appeared in court on behalf of the private mobile company and argued that the amendment in the law violates the fundamental right to business freedom enshrined in Article 18 of the Constitution.
He further argued that the companies would face a loss of Rs1 billion annually if more than 500,000 SIMs were blocked.
On May 12, it was reported that telecom operators blocked mobile phone SIMs of over 3,500 non-filers of the 5,000 cards.
Earlier on May 7, the telecom industry wrote a letter to the Ministry of IT & Telecom and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) stating that they are mandated to provide uninterrupted services to their customers, except in circumstances specified in the Telecom Act and relevant regulations.