LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Punjab government and its several departments on a petition challenging the increase in agricultural tax in the province.

Justice Hassan Nawaz Makhdoom heard a joint petition filed by opposition MPA Ijaz Shafi and Judicial Activism Panel (JAP).

Advocate Azhar Siddique represented the petition and argued that the government unlawfully revised agricultural income tax rates without mandatory legislative approval and by bypassing the constitutional role of the assembly.

He stated that under Section 11(2) of the Punjab Agricultural Income Tax Act, 1997, as amended in 2024, any alteration in tax rates is required to be placed before the provincial assembly during the presentation of the annual budget.

He alleged that this mandatory statutory requirement was not followed by the provincial executive.

The counsel contended that the impugned notifications violated articles 4, 9, 19-A, 25, 38, 77 and 127 of the Constitution.

He asserted that the taxation cannot be imposed or altered through executive action without legislative sanction, transparency and constitutional oversight.

He referred to established constitutional jurisprudence, including the landmark judgment in Mustafa Impex case, and argued that the power to determine tax rates is an essential legislative function that cannot be delegated arbitrarily to the executive branch.

Advocate Siddique pleaded that the farming communities had been subjected to discriminatory and unconstitutional taxation measures, adversely affecting farmers’ livelihoods, economic stability and legitimate expectations protected under the Constitution.

He sought the court’s directions for disclosure of government’s all communications with the IMF, production of complete records of tax collection since July 2025, suspension of tax recovery proceedings, withdrawal of the impugned notifications and refund of allegedly unlawfully collected amounts.

He further asked the court to set aside impugned notifications for being unconstitutional.

Justice Makhdoom turned down a request to immediately suspend the impugned notifications, and sought replies from the respondents within two weeks.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2026