PHC restrains officials from interfering in tobacco processing unit

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Saturday stopped government officials from interfering in the work of a tobacco processing unit in Mardan.

A division bench comprising Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Khurshid Iqbal heard the writ petition filed by one Mujeebur Rehman, who owned a tobacco processing unit in Mardan.

The petition, submitted through Hazrat Bilal Khan and Abdur Rahman Jadoon named the secretary Revenue Department, federal secretary of Interior, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and others as respondents.

The petitioner said that he owned a tobacco processing unit in Mardan, which supplied raw tobacco for cigarette manufacturing. He said that the unit employing hundreds of people was duly registered with the Regional Tax Office. The petitioner added that despite paying various taxes, the government was harassing him through different pretexts.

It was argued that under Section 45 of the Federal Excise Act 2025, Inland Revenue officers were being deployed to these industrial units to monitor production, inspect stock and sales, and check relevant records. However, the petitioner’s legal counsel informed the court that a monitoring system was already in place at the unit and was being scrutinized by the authorities.

The lawyers pointed out that on July 10, orders were issued for the installation of CCTV cameras at all Green Leaf Threshing Units, with instructions to grant access to the respondents for surveillance through those cameras.

They said that presently tobacco threshing season was in progress, and interference at this time could cause financial loss to the businesses. They contended that the government had deployed Rangers personnel inside the industrial premises, which not only violated constitutional rights but also contravened the FBR’s regulations.

The lawyers described how the heavily armed personnel were patrolling within the industrial premises, creating an atmosphere of fear, prompting many workers to resign. They pointed out that the expenses for accommodation and food of these security personnel had been forcibly imposed on the business, which was highly unjust and severely impacting operations. They prayed the court to nullify the government actions, including the deployment of security personnel, the establishment of surveillance infrastructure, and the installation of expensive equipment.

They prayed for an interim relief to halt the deployment of security personnel until a final decision was made in the case.

After hearing the preliminary arguments, the court issued notices to the respondents to file their replies.