Pleas against Sharia-compliant banking verdict formally withdrawn

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and other commercial banks on Saturday finally withdrew their appeals from the Supreme Court, challenging the Federal Shariat Court’s (FSC) directions to the government to make the country’s entire banking system completely Sharia-compliant by Dec 2027. The appeals were taken back in line with a Nov 9 announcement by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar that SBP and the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) would be withdrawing appeals against the April 28 FSC verdict, which had given the government a five-year deadline to eliminate Riba (interest-based) banking from the country. Announced in April by a three-judge FSC bench consisting of Chief Justice Muhammad Noor Meskanzai, Justice Dr Syed Muhammad Anwer and Justice Khadim Hussain M Shaikh, the verdict directed the federal as well as the provincial governments to complete necessary legislative amendments to the relevant laws and bring them into conformity with the injunctions of Islam within five years. The FSC also ordered the government to adopt Sharia-compliant modes while borrowing from domestic or foreign sources in the future.