Daily Times

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 Tanzeem-e-Islami Pakistan chief Hafiz Akif Saeed. The court dismissed the petition and remarked that it had already referred the application seeking 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 the state to eliminate Riba as early as possible, but the state had failed to enforce the Constitution in this regard. The counsel said that it was beyond the jurisdiction of the FSC to give directions to the state to implement Article 38-F of the Constitution. He said the constitutional authority available to the SC was much wider as compared to the FSC. In 1992, the FSC declared interest or Riba repugnant to the injunctions of Islam. Later in 1999, hearing an appeal against the decision, Supreme Court’s Shariat Appellate Bench upheld the FSC decision and gave the government two years to amend all banking laws and other statutes to prohibit Riba. However, the government and some banks filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against the anti-Riba ruling. The bench remanded the case in 2002 back to the FSC to reconsider it. The apex court also directed the FSC to take input from contemporary jurists of the Muslim world. The case is still pending in the FSC.