KARACHI, April 10: The Sindh High Court issued notices on Thursday on a writ petition seeking a ban on repatriation of funds by US-based multinationals.

The petition, moved by the Pasban-i-Millat, a non-governmental organization, through Advocate Ibrahim Azmi, said the US government needed funds to execute its wars on Iraq and other Muslim countries. US President George W. Bush had already sought an additional $70 billion for operations in Iraq and the amount would be paid by the American taxpayers, including the multinationals doing business in Pakistan and repatriating their profits earned by selling their products to Pakistani consumers.

It sought directions to the federal ministry of commerce to produce the record of US-based companies licensed to function in Pakistan and to M/s Coca Cola Beverages, Kodak Limited and McDonald’s to submit details of their initial investments and the profits earned and repatriated so far. Pending the petition’s disposal, the petitioner prayed for an interim order to restrain the companies from transferring their funds from Pakistan.

The petition came up before a division bench, comprising Justice Mohammad Roshan Essani and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, and it directed that notices be issued to a federal government law officer and the respondent companies for a date in office.