The lawsuit was filed by Hameed Khan, a resident of Chota Lahore, Swabi, through his counsel Babar Khan Yousafzai who argued before the court that increase in prices of tobacco products is the only way to discourage its consumptions among the citizens, especially youth.
The court gave interim relief to the petitioner Smoking is a known cause of multiple diseases including cancer, chronic heart diseases and breathing ailments, the petitioner argued, adding that it is the responsibility of the state to ensure that all its citizens are provided healthcare systems which cater for treatments of illnesses and ailments.
"It is the state's responsibility to ensure that consumer products which cause harm to health of its citizens are controlled," the petitioner said, adding: "Some products such as drugs must be banned outrightly whereas other products such as tobacco must be taxed appropriately to deter its use."
The court accepted the petitioner's argument and granted a stay order against new taxation rules for the tobacco industry. The petitioner said that changes in the Federal Excise Act 2005 helped the Ministry of Finance introduce a third tier of taxation which resulted in reduction of tax to Rs 16 for cigarettes with on-pack retail price below Rs 58.5.
The court was informed that approximately 108,800 people die of tobacco consumption in Pakistan, annually. The petitioner also maintained that the introduction of the third tier of tax on tobacco products has caused a huge loss to Pakistan due to low tax collection (almost 33 percent less), closure of local tobacco companies and job losses of around 3,000 employees of closed units in the last four months. Next hearing of the case will be held on January 18, 2018. Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of National Health Services and Federal Board of Revenue are respondents in the case.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017