RAWALPINDI:
A division bench of the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court, comprising Justices Jawad Hassan and Muhammad Raza Qureshi, has dismissed the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) objection to its jurisdiction in a petition challenging the 40 per cent taxes, levies and customs duty on sanitary napkins across Pakistan.
The court ruled that millions of women reside across Punjab and the Lahore High Court has the power to hear the petition.
The bench said appropriate orders would be issued and directed the federal government, the FBR chairman, the finance ministry and the National Human Rights Commission to submit clause-wise responses within two weeks.
The court expressed its dissatisfaction that the institutions did not submit written responses.
During the hearing, the FBR lawyer argued that since the respondents include the Federation of Pakistan and the FBR, the petition can be filed only in the Islamabad High Court and the Rawalpindi court has no jurisdiction. However, the court overruled this objection and ordered all defendants to file written responses before the next hearing.
The petition was filed under Section 199 by advocate Mah Noor Umar, 25, daughter of Umar Ali Khan, in the public interest of women.
The petition states that Pakistan’s female population is 48.51 percent, or 151 million women. Yet sanitary napkins are taxed up to 40 percent. Critics argue that this amounts to punishing women simply for being women and demand the removal of the “period tax.”
According to the Sales Tax Act of 1990, domestically manufactured sanitary napkins are subject to a sales tax of 18 percent, while imported sanitary napkins and raw materials are subject to a customs duty of 25 percent.
UNICEF Pakistan says the cumulative taxes increase the price of a single sanitary napkin by around 40 percent.
The petition argues that these taxes are discriminatory and violate constitutional guarantees of equality, dignity, social justice and protection from exploitation.
In a society where menstruation is still considered “shameful”, high taxes make sanitary products even more inaccessible.
A pack of 10 sanitary napkins costs 450 rupees, while Pakistan’s average monthly income is around $120, which is equivalent to a family meal. Removing the 40 percent tax would make prices accessible to ordinary women.
A study by UNICEF and WaterAid (2024) shows that only 12 percent of Pakistani women use commercial sanitary napkins. Most rely on fabrics or alternatives, often without clean water or sanitation facilities. Lower prices would benefit millions of women.
The petition argues that this step is essential for women’s health and for changing societal attitudes. It calls for all taxes and duties on sanitary napkins to be declared unconstitutional, removed entirely, and for the government to guarantee their free distribution in girls’ schools.
The petitioner’s lawyer, Ahsan Jehangir Khan Advocate, said the case was about restoring the dignity of women, and not just financial issues. Global precedents – such as India (2018), Nepal (2025) and the UK (2021) – have eliminated periodic taxes. The petitioner claims that if sanitary napkins became affordable, girls would not drop out of school, women would work with confidence and society would be healthier overall.
