ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Emir Hafiz Naee­m­ur Rehman on Monday appr­oached the Federal Constitu­tional Court (FCC) against the petroleum levy, arguing that the government had effectiv­ely granted itself unrestricted power to tax citizens through executive notifications without parliamentary oversight.

The government had announced a petroleum and carbon levy on June 14, 2025, under an iron-clad commitment with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Last month, the government had cut the levy by Rs80 amid the global oil crisis triggered by the Middle East war.

However, following the IMF’s condition of restoring an average Rs80 per litre petroleum levy on petrol and high-speed diesel last week, the government passed on a slight reduction in global oil prices to domestic consumers. The petroleum levy on petrol currently stands at Rs117.41 per litre, while the levy on HSD is Rs42.60 per litre.

In a petition moved through senior counsel Imran Shafeeq, Mr Rehman sought a declaration from the FCC that the present petroleum levy regime operating under the Petrol­eum Products (Petrol­eum Levy and Climate Support Levy) Ordinance, 1961, was ultra vires, unconstitutional and violative of Articles 4 (right of individuals to be dealt with in accordance with law, etc), 9 (security of person), 14 (inviolability of dignity of man, etc), 18 (freedom of trade, business or profession), 25 (equality of citizens), 77 (tax to be levied by law only), 90 (the federal government), and 160 (NFC) of the Constitution.

The petition also sought the suspension, restraining, or appropriate limitation of the further enhancement of the petroleum levy and climate support levy through executive notification mechanisms, unless and until constitutionally compliant legislative safeguards and statutory limits were enacted by parliament.

In the petition, the JI emir requested the FCC to order — if deemed appropriate — the constitution of an independent expert-assisted mechanism or commission to examine the constitutional, fiscal, economic, and federal implications of the present petroleum levy structure. The same would also recommend a constitutionally compliant statutory framework that remains consistent with parliamentary supremacy and fiscal accountability.

The plea also asked the court to order the federal government and relevant authorities to place before it complete records of the collection, allocation, transfer, accounting, utilisation, and end-use of amounts realised under both levies as well as related petroleum and energy-sector recoveries.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2026