Federal Supreme Court dismisses a federal ministry's lawsuit over Kurdistan's ration card dues

Shafaq News/ The Federal Supreme Court, Iraq's top court, on Tuesday rejected a lawsuit filed by the Federal Ministry of Trade, which sought to compel its counterpart in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to pay amounts accrued from the sale of ration card items spanning 17 years.

As per the court decision reviewed by Shafaq News Agency, the lawsuit was instituted by the Director-General of the General Company for the Trade of Foodstuffs, in his official capacity, against the Minister of Trade and Industry in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the Director-General of the General Directorate of Trade in Erbil. The lawsuit demanded the defendants to settle amounts owed from the sales of ration card items from January 1, 2004, to September 30, 2021, based on the value of the supplied goods and the number of beneficiaries.

The court ruled to dismiss the plaintiff's lawsuit, deeming it redundant following the issuance of Article 12 (a) of Law No. 13 of 2023 pertaining to the Federal General Budget of the Republic of Iraq for the fiscal years 2023-2025.

It's noteworthy that the lawsuit was filed in May 2022. The Federal Court convened multiple sessions with several postponements before reaching a decision on Monday, September 4th of this year.

Distributors of the aforementioned ration items, as mandated by the Ministry of Trade, receive a monthly sum of 500 dinars for each individual covered by the ration system in the Kurdistan region.