Shariat court to hear Riba case again

ISLAMABAD: After a long wait of over ten years, the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) will take up the Riba case (interest case) for hearing on Monday.

A five member bench of the Federal Shariat Court led by Chief Justice Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan, Justice Allama Dr Fida Muhammad Khan, Justice Rizwan Ali Dodani, Justice Sheikh Ahmad Farooq and Justice Shahzado Shaikh would hear the case that was remanded back to the FSC by the Supreme Court in 2002.

The Federal Shariat Court in 1992 had declared Riba as un-Islamic but following the decision of the then government of Nawaz Sharif, an appeal was filed against the said FSC order before the Supreme Court.

The appeal was filed through nationalized banks and others.

The Supreme Court again took years to hear this appeal and it was in 1999 that the Shariat Appellate Bench of the SC heard the case and upheld the decision of the Federal Shariat Court. The SC had given the then government two years to amend all the banking laws and other statutes to get rid of Riba.

However, the then ruler General Musharraf was not ready to implement the SC order. Later instead of implementing the FSC decision as endorsed by the SC, the Musharraf government again took up the matter with the post-2000 PCO SC, which in 2002 remanded the case back to the Federal Shariat Court.

As suited to the then government, the SC, however, did not give any time frame to the FSC to decide the matter. Accordingly, the FSC put the matter in the cold storage. Now after the matter is focused by the media, the FSC has fixed it for hearing on Monday 21st October, 2013.

Not only the continuation of Riba/interest in our banking and economic system is unconstitutional, it is also against the teachings of Quran and Sunnah. The FSC in its 1992 judgment had cited different verses of Holy Quran, relevant Ahadiths and concerned parts of Islamic jurisprudence to unanimously decided against this un-Islamic practice that continues unabated since the independence of Pakistan and despite the clear constitutional provisions barring such un-Islamic practices.

It would be interesting to see how would the incumbent Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his government would react to this important development — the taking up of Riba case by the FSC. Nawaz Sharif has been cursed and criticized by many particularly by the religious parties for his refusal to implement the Federal Shariat Court’s decision against Riba in 1992. Now after almost 21 years, Nawaz Sharif government is facing the same test — whether he would protect Riba or would finally move to eliminate it.