The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday fixed hearing of gas infrastructure development cess (GIDC) case on October 22. A three-judge bench of apex court headed by Justice Musheer Alam and comprising Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah will hear the case on October 22. The court's registrar office has issued notices to Attorney General for Pakistan and other parties of the case.

The federal government had approached the Supreme Court over the GIDC a day after it withdrew amid harsh criticism by various circles. A presidential ordinance introduced in last days of August to waive off over Rs 300 billion GIDC outstanding against a handful of industries and businesses.

While withdrawing the ordinance, Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed the AGP to move an application for an urgent hearing of the case in the Supreme Court "so that the matter could be decided at the earliest in accordance with the law and the Constitution." Following the directives of the Prime Minister, the attorney general had filed a petition at the top court's registrar office which sought immediate hearing of the GIDC case.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019