KARACHI, March 12: A Sindh High Court division bench adjourned the hearing of appeals against infrastructure cess on Friday to March 16.

The appellants’ counsel completed their arguments and the bench, which consisted of Justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali and M Mujibullah Siddiqui, would now hear Advocate Rasheed A Akhund, who would defend the impugned judgment of Justice Mushir Alam as special government counsel, and Additional Advocate-General Dr Qazi Khalid Ali, who would represent the Sindh government. Advocates Khalid Anwer, Kazim Hasan and Dr Farogh Naseem were among the lawyers who appeared for the appellants.

The cess was imposed in 2001 for development and maintenance of infrastructure (roads, bridges, security and safety) required for carriage of import and export consignments by road and smooth and safer movement in the province from or outside the country, through air or sea, at the rate of 0.5 per cent of their value. It was challenged by importers and exporters but was upheld by Justice Alam.

The appellants submitted that the cess only replaced the infrastructure fee first levied in 1994 and challenged by them in the high court by writ petitions. The governor’s ordinance of 2001, which introduced the cess, was beyond the legislative competence of the province.

According to entries 24, 27, 43 and 54 of the federal legislative list contained in the Constitution, imports and exports fall within the exclusive domain of of the federation.