Supreme Court directive to GRA refreshing, Minority
Keep accurate records of all E-Levy deductions, Supreme Court to GRA
Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu has said one of the most refreshing things about the Supreme Court ruling on the application for injunction for the implementation of E-Levy is the directive to the GRA to preserve and keep the money from E-Levy until the substantive matter is determined.
This directive, according to him, is heartwarming as it prevents government from rushing to collateralize E-Levy until the court gives a final ruling on the substantive matter.
Speaking to the media after the court dismissed the minority’s application for an injunction to stop the implementation of the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy), the Minority Leader said, “…what is refreshing and heartwarming is the second part of the ruling which gives the directive to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to preserve and keep the money, so that at least some people will not be in a rush to collateralize it until the substantive matter is determined.”
He also added that the minority remains determined after the dismissal of the injunction, as the main issue is yet to be heard.
“For us in the Minority, until the substantive matter is determined conclusively, we remain determined that even on the balance of weighing monetary consideration against the weight of a constitutional bridge, the emphasis should be the harm we are doing to the 1992 Constitution and the three organs of State. So whether some irreparable damage will be caused, our hardship is in respect to the Constitution by the action of the passage into law of an Act without the minimum Constitutional threshold.”
The Supreme Court, by unanimous decision, on Wednesday dismissed an application for an injunction at the Supreme Court to stop the implementation of the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy).
Three Members of Parliament; Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu; Mahama Ayariga, the MP for Bawku Central; and Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the MP for North Tongu; are demanding that the Apex Court restrains the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) from implementing the E-Levy until the final determination of their suit challenging the constitutionality of its passage by Parliament.
The injunction application filed by their lawyer, Godwin Kudzo Tameklo, on April 19, 2022, “avers that millions of people will suffer irreparable harm if the E-Levy Act is not put on hold and the court determines that its passage was unconstitutional."
According to the suit, GRA would be unable to reimburse the millions who would have paid the E-Levy while the 1992 constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, would have been undermined.
The court, therefore, dismissed the application stating that should the substantive case be heard and ruled as unconstitutional the GRA should keep accurate record for reimbursement.
The court also directed the GRA to keep accurate records of all E-levy deductions to enable a refund to payees just the E-Levy passage be declared unconstitutional.
