LAHORE, March 22: Lawyers have criticized the government decision to impose a 15 per cent general sales tax on medicines.

The tax will cause a steep rise in the prices of already costly drugs and raise the cost of overall treatment, they said. While the 5 per cent reduction in import duty of pharmaceutical raw materials would benefit the manufacturers only, the increase in drug prices would hit the rich and poor consumers alike, the lawyers said.

Pakistan Bar Council member Hafiz Abdur Rehman Ansari, Lahore High Court Bar Association president Chaudhry Muzammil Khan and LHCBA secretary Shahid Mahmood Bhatti said the imposition evidenced the government’s indifference to the poor. Expensive medicines and treatment militated against the concept of welfare state enshrined in the Constitution.

Supreme Court Bar Association executive member Tariq Aziz Malik said the government was out to favour the rich at the cost of the poor segment of society. He warned that more taxes were likely to be imposed because of a shortfall of Rs20 billion caused by the withdrawal of wealth tax by amending Section 3 of the Wealth Tax Act.

He said the GST imposed on drugs and medicines would, according to official estimates, generate an additional revenue of Rs5 billion. A shortfall of Rs15 billion caused by the abolition of wealth tax would still have to be met and more taxes were likely to be imposed on the ordinary people. He urged the reintroduction of direct taxes to provide relief to the common man.

The lawyer said the government policy was violative of Article 2-A (Objectives Resolution), Article 3 (Elimination of exploitation) and the directive principles of state policy enshrined in the Constitution.

The LHCBA office-bearers said the government should concentrate on transfer of power instead of introducing more taxes. President Pervez Musharraf should resign as army chief if he wanted to join politics and become an elected head of the state. A method had been prescribed by the Constitution for election of president and it should be followed, they said.

They urged Barrister Abdul Hafeez Pirzada and other senior lawyers to fight for the supremacy of the Constitution instead of defending government measures. The office-bearers said a convention of lawyers would be called after Ashura to work out a campaign for revival of democracy.