Dr. Ikramul Haq
Pakistanis have endured 78 years of a painful journey comprising unprecedented politico and socio-economic sufferings, especially the poor and less privileged, for whom these continue unabated no matter how many Independence Days we celebrate, unless the society is restructured on the principles of equity, fairness and justice—fundamental elements enunciated in Article 3 of the 1973 Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan [“the Constitution”].
The landmark majority 9-member judgement of Supreme Court of Pakistan for rectifying the mistake of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in allocating reserve seats through enacting Elections (Second Amendment) Act, 2024 by the Senate & National Assembly—just a week before the 77th Independence Day—reversed in a review judgement is highly lamentable.
The short order in review petition violates well-established jurisprudence of Article 188 of the Constitution, pushing the country towards further anarchy and constitutional breakdown. Such mockery of justice and constitutionalism is highly deplorable, when the nation is already weary of unabated terrorism, lawlessness, economic meltdown, unprecedented tax burden and high food inflation.
The regime illegitimacy giving rise to unbated political instability and perpetual economic subjugation to International Monetary Fund (IMF) and others are not sudden isolated phenomena. These are because of State’s captivity in the hands of militro-judicial-civil complex, absentee landowners, pirs (spiritual leaders), industrialist-turned politicians and unscrupulous traders. Pakistan’s economy serves these privileged classes.
The militro-judicial-civil complex not only enjoys unprecedented tax-free benefits at the cost of taxpayers’ money but has also failed to deliver for what it is paid. Absentee landowners and industrialists continuously amass wealth by exploiting landless tillers and industrial workers, respectively.
Greedy hoarders and dishonest traders create artificial hikes in prices of essential items and thrive on hard-earned incomes of the poor and fixed-income classes without even sparing the hapless citizens during auspicious occasions like Eid when prices go beyond the reach of even well-to-do middle-class families. Adding insult to injury, successive governments keep on imposing and increasing oppressive, unbearable indirect taxes on the poor, while extending unprecedented benefits to the rich and mighty. This has always been the real dilemma of Pakistan, where we are celebrating 78th Independence Day on August 14, 2025!
The anti-people alliance of militro-judicial-civil complex is the root cause of our major ills. Through cross marriages, they ‘look after’ each other and manage to perpetuate control over State institutions and economic resources. For civil bureaucrats, life revolves around good postings, promotions, lucrative benefits, foreign tours and foreign nationalities!
Officers having a political clout are requisitioned by federal and provincial ministries for lucrative posts with unbelievable perks and benefits. The so-called civil servants (behaving like brown sahibs believing to be even more privileged than gora rulers) serve their political masters’ interests rather than the people, sometimes in defiance of established rules and regulations, destroying the entire structure of civil services, where ‘political connections’ is now the name of the game.
Polarisation, favouratism and politicisation within State institutions are showing their disastrous results. While law and order has always been a grave concern, terrorists now freely attack with impunity law enforcement personnel and even members of armed forces. Despite taking enormous amount of taxes, people are forced to arrange their own security while the government machinery serves rulers alone.
Even after taking oath for the second time, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has not learnt any lessons from his past mistakes—he continues to act like the “servant” of those who matter in the land, and keeps on promoting nepotism and cronyism. Once again, under his previous and present rule, many high-clibre officers are denied postings/promotions they deserve on merit or are placed in surplus pool on flimsy grounds, while “loyalists”, though junior and incompetent, are enjoying lucrative posts. There seems no end to such brazen acts on the part of elites that keep on humming democracy mantra, but act in an authoritarian and irresponsible manner.
Militro-judicial-civil complex and their cronies will never make Pakistan an egalitarian State—as demonstrated repeatedly by them. The latest evidence is the Finance Act, 2025 not imposing a single tax on the rich and mighty to bridge the huge fiscal deficit. On the contrary, indirect taxes have been raised, even under the garb of Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, to further crush the poor and overburden the fast-squeezing middle-class. The same pro-rich approach was adopted in federal budget for FY 2024-25, which also imposed unbearable tax burden on the lower and middle class salaried persons.
Mindless borrowings simultaneously from banks and foreign lenders continue to push the nation in darker abyss of ‘debt prison’—debt servicing alone is now the largest burden on the economy absorbing all taxes collected by Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), after 57.5% share to provinces, and including non-tax revenue—all happening due to ruthless spending to fund luxuries of the State Oligarchy. The fiscal deficit, projected in Budget 2025-26 is Rs. 6.5 trillion whereas debt servicing is at Rs. 8.2 trillion! In fiscal year (FY) 2025, deficit was Rs. 7.4 trillion and debt servicing was Rs. 8.9 trillion. In FY 2024, budget was prepared under the guidance of Muhmmad Ishaq Dar, with debt servicing allocation of Rs. 7.3 trillion that ultimately overran to Rs. 8.16 trillion!
The jubilation and merriment over staff-level agreement with IMF on July 12, 2024 for 37-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme of US$7 billion speaks volume of moral bankruptcy of our ruling elites. What a pity that that they celebrate further indebtedness! Just three days before the 84th Pakistan Day, March 23, 2024, Press release of IMF confirming successful completion of SBA was treated as an advance gift of Pakistan Resolution to the nation—height of shameless behaviour!
The elites are, however, still happy as they enjoy unprecedented benefits and perquisites, free plots, foreign trips, foreign nationalities, free club facilities, just to mention a few, all funded by the poor taxpayers. On the other hand, there is no political will to provide free health and education to the ordinary people, what to speak of fulfilling other obligations mentioned in the Constitution.
Dr. Ishrat Husain, in his book, Pakistan: The Economy of an Elitist State, has aptly observed that in sharp contrast to the East Asian model of ‘shared growth’, based on rapid economic development, coupled with a rapid reduction in poverty and more equitable distribution of the benefits of development, in Pakistan, the elitist model confers political and economic powers to a small coterie of elite (parasites). While quoting Dr. Ishrat’s work, Dr. Khalil Ahmad, in his book, Pakistan Mein Riasti Ashrafiya Ka A’roj (Rise of State Oligarchy in Pakistan), has also concluded: “Pakistan is presently owned and exploited by elites whereas it should belong to the people of Pakistan”.
Powerful State officials, in hand with the rich and mighty men in khaki and corrupt politicians, exploit the system for self-aggrandisement. For example, FBR through SROs [Statutory Regulator Orders] at the behest of political masters provides “legal” ways and means to society’s powerful sections to amass huge wealth—exemptions and concessions given to them by acts of Parliament are worth billions of rupees. It is worth mentioning that under Ishaq Dar during 2013-17, FBR issued many favourable notifications, especially for sugar and steel industry.
In 2012 when officers of Grade 19-22 were allowed compulsory monetized transport allowance, SRO 569(I)/2012 was issued on 26 May 2012 [still operative] providing that government officials in Grade 20-22 would pay just 5% tax on this allowance. Powerful bureaucrats use official cars, get monetized allowance, and pay meagre tax. On the contrary, their counterparts in private sector pay tax on this perquisite at the normal rate! This injustice was highlighted in an earlier column. It was hoped that with the new Chairman of FBR, Rashid Mahmood Langrial, personal choice and confidant of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, this benefit would be withdrawn. However, he himself continued to enjoy it!
It is worth mentioning that in Finance Act 2013, the flying allowance of airline pilots was clubbed with salary, but Ishaq Dar did not extend similar treatment to mighty bureaucrats for their transport allowance showing how elites protect each other and professionals like pilots get raw deals just because they are not part of State Oligarchy.
The problem of Pakistan is not scarcity of resources, but unwillingness in tapping and/or properly utilizing and managing their equitable distribution, absence of effective administrative and justice systems to check socio-economic injustice. It has been repeatedly highlighted by different writers that without imposing any new tax or raising the rates of the existing ones, the total revenue collection at federal level alone can be Rs 30 trillion (Rs. 18 trillion direct taxes and Rs. 12 trillion indirect taxes) if existing tax gap is bridged and informal economy is brought into tax net.
This level of collection is possible but as a first step, we will have to reform our administrative machinery and judiciary. Expensive State property occupied by State elites (judges and high-ranking civil-military bureaucrats) as “residences” must be utilized commercially through long-term lease. Their benefits and perquisites should be monetized. Consolidated Pay Package for them, fair and adequate, would reduce corruption, remove a strong sense of elitism and improve governance.
For politicians and all State functionaries, an independent and effective accountability apparatus is necessary. Without fundamental structural reforms, we cannot establish a true democratic polity extend socio-economic justice for all, ensure rapid growth with job opportunities for millions of young people, whose frustration is on the rise with every passing day as elites are showing apathy towards them while enjoying luxuries at the State’s expense.
Brutal and naked exploitation of the have-nots in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and dehumanization of society are leading to gruesome incidents where people are committing suicides or killing innocents without any remorse and repentance. We will have to move fast to reverse this trend and make Pakistan a true democratic republic for the people, not jagir [fiefdom] of elites.
Time has come to take definitive actions to implement in letter and spirit Article 3 of the Constitution which says: “The State shall ensure the elimination of all forms of exploitation and the gradual fulfillment of the fundamental principle, from each according to his ability to each according to his work”.
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Dr. Ikramul Haq, Advocate Supreme Court, specializes in constitutional, corporate, media, environment, ML/CFT related laws, IT, intellectual property, arbitration and international tax laws. He holds LLD in tax laws with specialization in transfer pricing. He was full-time journalist from 1979 to 1984 with Viewpoint and Dawn. He served Civil Services of Pakistan from 1984 to 1996. He established Huzaima & Ikram in 1996 and is presently its chief partner. He studied journalism, English literature and law.
He is Chief Editor of Taxation. He is country editor and correspondent of International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD) and member of International Fiscal Association (IFA). He is Visiting Faculty at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and member Advisory Board and Visiting Senior Fellow of Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE).
He has coauthored with Huzaima Bukhari many books that include Tax Reforms in Pakistan: Historic & Critical Review, Towards Flat, Low-rate, Broad and Predictable Taxes (revised & Expanded Edition, Pakistan: Enigma of Taxation, Towards Flat, Low-rate, Broad and Predictable Taxes (revised/enlarged edition of December 2020), Law & Practice of Income Tax, Law , Practice of Sales Tax, Law and Practice of Corporate Law, Law & Practice of Federal Excise, Law & Practice of Sales Tax on Services, Federal Tax Laws of Pakistan, Provincial Tax Laws, Practical Handbook of Income Tax, Tax Laws of Pakistan, Principles of Income Tax with Glossary and Master Tax Guide, Income Tax Digest 1886-2011 (with judicial analysis).
He is author of Commentary on Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreements, Pakistan: From Hash to Heroin, its sequel Pakistan: Drug-trap to Debt-trap and Practical Handbook of Income Tax. Two books of poetry are Phull Kikkaran De (Punjabi 2023) and Nai Ufaq (Urdu 1979 with Siraj Munir and Shahid Jamal).
He regularly writes columns/article/papers for many Pakistani newspapers and international journals and has contributed over 2500 articles on a variety of issues of public interest, printed in various journals, magazines and newspapers at home and abroad.
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