Ralwpindi: Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawpindi bench heard last Wednesday that a petition constitutes a petition to question the business tax on women’s hygiene napkins, petitioners argue that the tax takes basic health necessities as luxury goods and keeps gender permanent
LHC Justice Jawad Hassan accepted a petition filed by Mahnoor Omer that sewed a business tax exemption from sanitary pads and related products.
With the approval of the Court, the petition also added the Tax Division through its secretary as a defendant, which held that the tax system indirectly discriminated against women and violated the constitutional rights of equality and dignity as stated in Articles 3, 9, 14, 25 and 37.
Ahsan Jehangir Khan, a lawyer advocate for the petitioner, said that only 12% of menstrual women in Pakistan can afford commercial sanitation pads, forcing the rest of them to use unsafe alternatives.
The petition argues that the collection of sanitary napkins violates gender equality rights
He noted that locally manufactured sanitary products hold a 18% sales tax, while imported goods face a 25% customs tax. He added that even for the key raw materials, superabsorbent polymer (JUICE) paper is subject to a 25% tax.
“In taxed sanitary products, the state is punishing women with natural biological functions,” the consultant said.
The bench, whoever questioned the 26th Constitutional Amendment and raised the jurisdictional question, as respondents (including the tax department) were headquartered in Islamabad. The petitioner’s lawyer seeks time to address these views.
Barrister Zain Mansoor, Assistant Attorney General and Barrister Raja Hashim Javed, Assistant Advocate, representing the federal and provincial governments.
The court issued a notice to the federal government and other respondents to submit a reply within two weeks.
A separate notice was also sent to the Attorney General in response to the constitutional issues involved under Order XXVII-A of the Civil Procedure Code.
This matter is adjourned, but the petitioner deals with the issue of maintainability of the court.
Posted in Dawn on September 18, 2025
