LHC rejects govt’s plea for auctioning LPG

LAHORE

A division bench of the Lahore High Court on Wednesday declined the federal government’s plea to hold auction of approximately 400 MT (metric ton) Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). 

A single bench had stayed last week the auction of the LPG scheduled for February 2 (today) and sought a report from secretary petroleum on alleged violation of rules in the process. Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) was holding the auction.

The stay order was passed on petition of a LPG marketing company that alleged that PPL had been auctioning the LPG beyond price fixed by the government and in sheer violation of the LPG Policy.

The government filed an appeal against the order that was heard by a division bench headed by Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh on Wednesday.

The government’s counsel argued that there would be a shortage of LPG in the country if auction was not held on its schedule.

He said the court could not order implementation of the LPG Policy as it was yet to be notified. The auction was a policy matter of the government and the court lacked jurisdiction to interfere in, the counsel added. 

The bench turned down the request and sought replies from ministry of petroleum and Ogra by February 7.

tax net: The federal government on Wednesday informed the Lahore High Court that the Voluntary Tax Compliance Scheme (VTCS) was introduced to bring non filers to the tax net for the achievement of broader national objectives.

This was stated in a report submitted on behalf of the Federal Law Ministry during the hearing of a petition that challenged the tax amnesty scheme.

The report said the scheme was introduced through Income Tax Amendment Act 2016 in the backdrop of enactment of Section 236-P in the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. It stated that the intention of introducing the scheme was to broaden the tax base.

The ministry maintained that no violation of the Constitution was committed in the enactment of the scheme as the Income Tax Act 2016 was duly debated in the National Assembly and became an act of the parliament. The ministry requested the court to dismiss the petition for having no ground.

After going through the report, Justice Shahid Jamil Khan directed both sides to come up with concluding arguments on March 2. 

Advocate Sheraz Zaka had filed the petition contending that the tax amnesty scheme should be declared discriminatory as it was exclusively meant for traders excluding other classes like lawyers, doctors and other professionals.

He stated the scheme was launched to provide a cushion to traders for making their black money white.