The Impact of the Supreme Court Judgements of 1999 and 2002 on Riba (Interest) on the IBF Movement in Pakistan (1999–2007)

Abstract

As described in Chapter 6, the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) gave its verdict on riba in November 1991 and ordered the government to adopt the necessary measures for eliminating interest from the economy of Pakistan by 30 June 1992. In response, the government and financial institutions lodged appeals against the FSC judgement at the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan. The appeals against the FSC judgement remained pending at the SC for some years due to the lack of a full quorum of judges to conduct hearings. After achieving its quorum in February 1999, the SC commenced hearing the appeals, and declared its verdict on 23 December 1999. The SC unanimously affirmed the FSC’s declaration that riba violated Shariah principles. The SC prescribed parameters that the government should observe in abolishing the interest-based economic and financial system of Pakistan by 30 June 2001.