FAISALABAD: Asghar Ali, a poor labourer of Chak 64-RB, Jaranwala, is passing through mental agony since the Inland Revenue Benami Zone of Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) has asked him to justify the sale of sugar worth Rs3.6 million in his name by a sugar mills.

Issuing a notice to Ali, the FBR said the perusal of sales tax returns filed by Hunza Sugar Mills has revealed that it supplied sugar worth Rs3.6m in his name during the tax period from October 2017 to February 2020.

The labourer has been summoned by the FBR in person, with documents, including personal business/professional profile, total sugar supplies received from the mill, mode of payment/banking instruments used for the payment, details of brokers involved, if any, purchase ledger with the mill and personal income tax returns.

However, he has been asked to submit an affidavit denying any sugar purchase from the mills if he was not involved in the matter and his name and CNIC have been misused by the mills without his knowledge.

The FBR has also warned him of action under section 32 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (act V of 1908) in case of non-compliance.

Ali told reporters that he had submitted a reply to the FBR saying that he had worked in the mills for about 5-6 days and submitted his CNIC with its administration. He added that since his CNIC had expired, he was asked to get it renewed.

”I got my new card, but did not join the factory rather started farming,”he said.

He claimed the factory had registered illegal sales on his ID card as being a poor man he could not afford such a purchase.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2020