CZ 50 appeal to CJ for suo moto

Hon’able Mr. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudry
Chief Justice of Pakistan
and All Honourable Justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan

Your Lordships,

I as an ordinary citizen of Pakistan draw your attention to the regular torture being given to the citizens of Pakistan by asking them to prepare judicial stamped documents signed by notary public and two witnesses to declare their sect and fiqah so as to seek exemption from deduction of Zakat.

My Lords,

a. Asking citizens to disclose their private faith related information is a violation of their basic rights
b. Citizens are being discriminated on the basis of their faith and fiqah (some manage to not get their zakat deducted while others are forced to undergo this deduction)
c. Citizens are tortured through cumbersome bureaucratic procedures of filling the CZ-50 forms , getting signatures from notary public and two witnesses.

The Supreme Court March 9, 1999 judgment has already exempted all Muslims to be exempted from payment of Zakat, provided they belonged to a recognised Fiqah. However, it is not the function of state (or for that matter any one else) to decide what are the recognised Fiqahs.

Your Lordship, I request that the requirements for Muslims to declared their sect or fiqah be declared null and void for not just financial transactions but for all transactions between the state and its citizens.

I also request that no citizen be asked to fill the judicial stamp paper (CZ-50) for declaring his/her faith, fiqah or sect.

Sincerely,

Naeem Sadiq

July 3, 2009