KARACHI, Sept 22: The Sindh High Court on Wednesday issued the Faisal Cantonment Board authorities a notice in a writ petition challenging imposition of property tax by it on a plot in Gulistan-i-Jauhar as a condition precedent to approval of a plan for construction of a house on it.

The petitioner said he purchased a 400-square-yard plot bearing number B-173 in block 12 of Gulistan-i-Jauhar (Scheme-36) in March. Parts of the Faisal Cantonment Board area were included in the scheme in 1997 and the plot fell in the extended limits.

He submitted his construction plan to the cantonment board in April but instead of taking any action on it, the board raised a demand of Rs122,592, including Rs96,000 on account of property tax, before its consideration.

The petitioner submitted through Advocate M. Nawaz Shaikh that the demand of property tax at the rate of two per cent of the lease amount was unlawful, arbitrary and unreasonable.

Sections 60, 61, 62 and 63 of the Cantonment Act, 1924, prescribe certain formalities for imposition of taxes and charges and the respondent board had failed to observe them.

Among other things, the law requires the board to seek previous sanction of the federal government and invite public objections to the proposed levies from the inhabitants of the area concerned.

It must also seek authorization from the government after finalizing the proposals. The imposition was also discriminatory as several plot owners had their plans approved without paying any tax. A division bench, comprising Justices Shabbir Ahmed and M. Mujibullah Siddiqui, directed that the board be issued a notice for a date to be fixed by the SHC office.

DEMOLITION: A division bench of the Sindh High Court declined on Wednesday to stay the Karachi Building Control Authority demolition operation at Trade Tower to enable the affected shopowners to approach the Supreme Court against dismissal of their appeals by it.

The KBCA started the operation soon after the dismissal of appeals by the bench, which consisted of Justices Sabihuddin Ahmed and Khilji Arif Hussain, against the judgment of Justice Mushir Alam in a suit instituted by the shop owners on Sept 7. The appellants moved the bench for an interim stay for four weeks. The bench rejected the plea and refused stay even for a week.

Contesting the stay plea, KBCA counsel Shahid Jamil Khan submitted that an interim order would serve no purpose as the violative shops in the basement, which occupied the area earmarked for a parking lot, had already been demolished.

He requested the court to ask the appellants to pay the operation cost to the KBCA as required by Section 7-A of the Sindh Building Control Ordinance, 1979. He produced pictures to show that the shops constructed in the basement were no longer in existence.

The counsel also requested the court to direct the appellants or the builder and developers, M/s Landmarks, to provide a ramp in the basement to facilitate parking. He said Trade Tower was situated on a busy intersection of Haji Abdullah Haroon Road and absence of a parking lot would obstruct smooth flow of traffic.

If the appellants failed, the KBCA would itself build a ramp and recover the cost from the builders or the purchasers of the premises who stepped into their shops. The bench allowed the authority to proceed in accordance with the law.

PLEA DISMISSED: The Sindh High Court dismissed on Wednesday a soft drink manufacturer's plea against recovery of advertisement tax by the city district government.

M/s Coca Cola moved a writ petition through Advocate Mustafa Ramday claiming that the CDGK had no powers to impose tax. It was illegally seeking to recover over Rs30 million from the petitioner concern on account of advertisement tax.

Contesting the petition, CDGK counsel Manzoor Ahmed submitted that the CDGK was duly empowered by the Sindh Local Government Ordinance to impose the impugned tax. The imposition was sanctioned by the bylaws and government notification.

BAIL GRANTED: Justice Shabbir Ahmed of the Sindh High Court, in his capacity as special appellate judge for customs and taxation, on Wednesday granted protective bail before arrest to currency dealer Haji Haroon Mohammad Yousuf.

Appearing for the applicants, who are chief executive and director of M/s H&H Exchange (Private) Ltd, Advocates Dr M. Farogh Naseem and Ms Ismet Mehdi submitted that the exchange company had exported foreign currency, other than US dollars, in terms of a State Bank permission of Feb 2003.

The company operated under licence and entered all transactions in a website duly approved by the State Bank and not allowing reversal of an entry. The counsel contended that the accused applicants were bona fide money exchangers. They had no intention of smuggling currency and the first information report registered against them was mala fide.