RAWALPINDI, Feb 15: Scores of petitions filed by the residents against the decisions of the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) and about a dozen stay orders granted by the courts have seriously affected the house tax collection and development works of the civic body, well-placed sources told Dawn.

As many as 292 cases filed by the residents against the RCB authorities are pending with the courts. Eleven of these relate to property tax, and the courts have debarred the RCB from tax collection till final verdict. All the 11 petitions will be heard on February 24, the sources said.

Sources said the stoppage of tax collection had slowed down the board’s recovery campaign by about 20-30 per cent. On the other hand, only four months have left in the financial year 2002-2003, as June 30 is the last date for tax recovery.

The civic body, which is already passing through a financial crunch will be hard put to fund even its basic needs if the restriction on tax collection was not removed.

Apart from this, the bifurcation of the cantonment has further complicated things for the residents and the cantonments’ authorities.

The newly-established Chaklala Cantonment will have to conduct its own assessment to determine the number of tax units, commercial and residential. This will take months to complete.

The suspended members of the board have also launched a campaign against the tax-related orders of the RCB authorities and asked the residents, especially those of the Chaklala cantonment, not to deposit any taxes.

If any tax notice was issued by the Chaklala cantonment, it would be challenged in the court, said Haji Ijaz, a suspended member, who is in litigation with the RCB authorities in a number of cases.

He said the Lahore High Court had issued express orders to the RCB not to issue tax notices to the residents and businessmen until the issue was finally resolved. But the RCB officials were issuing tax bills to those people who did not know that tax collection stood barred, he added.