July 15, 2003	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 14, 1424

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RAWALPINDI, July 14: A division bench of the Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi bench, on Monday suspended the Rawalpindi Cantonment elected body restoration order.

The LHC division bench, comprising Justice Javed Butter and Justice Tanvir Bashir Ansari, passed the judgment after hearing an intra-court appeal filed by the RCB management.

In the appeal, the RCB legal adviser, Waqarul Haq Sheikh, contented that the federal government varied all the cantonment boards in the country after the military takeover on October 12, 1999.

He maintained that as the Rawalpindi cantonment is the largest in Asia, the elected board was dissolved to pave the way for its bifurcation.

Mr Sheikh said it was not possible to divide the cantonment in the presence of the elected body because some of the members representing the Chaklala side could have their constituency on the Rawalpindi side after the bifurcation.

A similar plan in this regard failed to materialize in 1999, when the board was bifurcated but had to be revived due to the membership issue, he added.

A single bench comprising, Justice Maulvi Anwarul Haq, has restored the elected board on June 30, declared the mini-board unconstitutional and all its decisions null and void.

RCB BUDGET OKAYED: The mini-board of the Rawalpindi cantonment on Monday approved its Rs531.656 million surplus budget for the financial year 2003-2004 after incorporating last years conservancy charges, it was learnt.

Earlier the budget volume was Rs509 million which was presented in a board meeting about two weeks ago.

The budget estimates have risen by about Rs20 million after the inclusion of last year conservancy charges of about Rs20 million. The amount had been included in the last year budget, but could not be recovered after protests from the residents. The civic body plans to recover the charges this year with the current year charges.

Under the new budget, the total revenue has been estimated at Rs490.696 million, with the opening balance of Rs40.96 million.

Total expenditure during the current year has been estimated at Rs478.490 million. The closing balance is expected to be about Rs53.166 million.

The board expects an expected receipt of Rs265 million on account of rates and taxes. An mount of Rs2.5 million will be realized under special act; Rs109.525 million is expected to be recovered under property tax; Rs23.80 million will be received under miscellaneous; grant-in-aid (Khushal Pakistan Programme and PTCL), Rs28.351 million; security deposit, Rs5 million; debts, Rs56.52 million.

The board has allocated Rs133.415 million for the establishment; Rs123.193 million for contingencies; Rs50.598 million for miscellaneous expenses; Rs23 million for maintenance and repair; Rs35.20 million for new projects; Rs2.77 million for payment of contractors’ dues and Rs110.313 million for annual development programme.

As many as 53 sources of revenue have been identified in the budget. Of these, house tax accounts for the largest amount upto Rs100 million, followed by octroi charges, Rs86 million.

Other sources include professional tax, Rs0.5 million; water charges, Rs25 million; water connection fees, Rs10 million; transfer of immovable property, Rs10 million; cinema tax, Rs2 million; fines, Rs1 million; rent from leases, Rs1 million; rent from hoarding, Rs3.5 million; Suzuki-wagon stand fee, Rs8 million; income from Cantonment General Hospital, Rs18.875 million; income from cattle fair, Rs5 million; cantonment petrol pump at Peshawar Road, Rs21 million; cantonment board model schools, Rs0.5 million; rent from markets, Rs0.5 million; licence fee, Rs0.8 million; transfer of cantonment board property, Rs1.5 million; income from investment, Rs1.5 million; sale of old material, Rs0.5 million; road cut charges, Rs3 million; security deposit, Rs5 million; premium of land lease, Rs40 million.

Other salient features of the budget are that it is performance-oriented and self-reliant. No new taxes have been levied nor the rates of previous taxes and fees revised.

Austerity measures have been adopted and economy has been shown in non-developmental expenditures.