KARACHI, Dec 12: Ignoring protest by the opposition benches, the City Council on Tuesday levied a new tax on poultry shops operating in the jurisdiction of Karachi.

Under the new taxation measure imposed for the first time in the city, some 1,400 unauthorised shops will be regularised as was claimed by the treasury.

Presided over by Naib City Nazim Nasreen Jalil, the council adopted a unanimous resolution imposing an annual fee of Rs500 on each shop.

The opposition staged a token walkout in protest against the “negative attitude” of the treasury for creating disturbances during their speeches.

The heated debate continued at the council session when both the treasury and opposition benches advanced their arguments. Treasury members argued that the step had been taken to enhance the revenue generation of the city government to enable it to provide more services to the people.

However, the opposition members were of the view that levying of new taxes would overburden the people who had already been subjugated because of high prices of meat, onions and other items. They said the city government should control prices instead of imposing new taxes which would add to the people’s suffering.

Earlier, when the resolution was tabled by the presiding officer in the house, Opposition leader Saeed Ghani stood up and drew the attention of the chair to his pending resolutions and requested her to present them for debate in the house. One of the resolutions related to petroleum prices.

The presiding officer assured him that she would take up his resolutions after the disposal of the normal agenda. The opposition did not press the issue and the house resumed its normal business.

After that the resolution on poultry shops was tabled in the house for approval. When the presiding officer sought the members’ views, the treasury members raised their hands in support of the resolution but the opposition member Saeed Ghani stood up and sought permission of the chair for debate.

Mr Ghani pleaded that the resolution should not be adopted because it would enhance the chickens prices as the people had already been suffering because of high prices of essential commodities.

His contention was also supported by some other opposition members.

Treasury leaders Masood Mehmood and Asif Siddiqui did not agree to the opposition’s contention, saying that there was no substance in their arguments and there was no link between new poultry shop taxes and the general price-hike, which was related to demand and supply positions.

Treasury members Arif Bhatti told the house that under the new taxation as many as 1,500 more unauthorized shops would be registered. At present, he said, there were only 400 registered poultry shops. This would, he argued, increase the city government’s revenue generation and in return it would take steps for their welfare.

Pandemonium broke out when opposition leader Rafiq Ahmed of the Al-Khidmat Group stood up and charged that the treasury bench was dancing to the tune of bureaucracy, saying that new taxes were being imposed by them to seek new avenues of “extortion”.

He criticised the city government for levying new taxes time and again on the people who had already been overburden of by price increases.

Treasury members repeatedly interrupted Rafiq Ahmed’s speech by thumping desks and shouting. Opposition Leader Saeed Ghani drew the attention of the presiding officer and requested her to maintain the decorum of the house.

Having failed to persuade the chair, the opposition members staged a token walkout and they returned to the house after some time.

The tension in the house eased when the presiding officer allowed Mr Ahmed to continue his speech. He urged the city government to withdraw the new tax.

Another opposition member, Dr Ziauddin, also criticised the new tax, saying the city government should have taken into consideration all factors before levying the tax.

Treasury members Abdul Jalil and Imran also defended the new tax and argued that no government could manage itself without funding resources. They urged the opposition to stop criticizing the city government for the sake of petty politics, and support the public welfare related measures.

After passing the resolution unanimously, the house was adjourned to meet again on Thursday.

Earlier, the house also passed a unanimous resolution seeking refund of Rs9,689,500 from the Water and Power Development Authority.

Later, talking to newsmen, Opposition leader Saeed Ghani deplored the attitude of the presiding officer, saying that it was her responsibility to maintain the decorum of the house.

He also criticised the “negative attitude” of the treasury, saying democratic traditions could not be promoted by suppressing the voice of dissent.