Written by Mrs. Anjum Shahnawaz KARACHI — The Sindh High Court (SHC) has granted interim relief to multiple taxpayers by staying the recovery of alleged default surcharge linked to super tax liabilities, in a development that could have significant implications for tax enforcement and litigation in Pakistan. The order was issued on Tuesday in response to a series of constitutional petitions challenging show-cause notices issued under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. The notices alleged that the petitioners had failed to pay super tax under Section 4C of the law and were therefore liable to pay default surcharge under Section 205. According to court filings, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had initiated proceedings under Sections 205(1), 205(7), and 137(1) of the Ordinance, asserting that the taxpayers had defaulted on their obligations by not depositing the super tax alongside their income tax returns for the relevant tax years. The petitioners, represented by senior counsel including Barrister Asad Ashfaq Tola, M. Amayed Ashfaq Tola, Shaheer Memon, Jawad Qureshi, and Yousuf Khalid Anwer, argued that the recovery proceedings were premature and unlawful. They contended that no default surcharge could be imposed without a formal assessment determining the liability through an Order-in-Original issued by the competent tax authority. Legal counsel further submitted that under Section 205 of the Ordinance, the existence of a default must first be established through due process before any surcharge can be levied. They emphasized that Section 137(2) clearly mandates that once a tax liability is determined, the taxpayer must be served with a notice specifying the amount payable and granted a statutory period of 30 days to settle the dues. The petitioners maintained that this mandatory procedure had not been followed in their cases, rendering the show-cause notices and subsequent recovery attempts legally flawed. They also argued that for the period in question, taxpayers were operating under judicial protection…