PESHAWAR, July 2: The Peshawar High Court has declared the levy of income tax in the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata) illegal and unconstitutional.

A two-member bench of the high court comprising Justice Shehzad Akber Khan and Justice Ijazul Hassan accepted the petition of a resident of Pata, Dr Najeeb, who had challenged the levy of 10 per cent income tax per annum on the income from National Savings Certificates.

The bench directed the income tax department not to levy income tax on certificates being issued in Pata.

The petitioner contended that the Income Tax Ordinance, 1979, had not been extended to Pata, therefore income tax could not be levied in those areas.

Advocate Sardar Khan, Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb and Barrister Asad Khan Sikanderkhel represented the petitioner. They argued that under article 247 of the Constitution no law was applicable to Pata unless a notification was issued in that regard by the provincial governor with the approval of the president.—Bureau