SHC restrains Cantonment Board from taking action against shop owners

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has restrained the Cantonment Board Faisal from taking any adverse action against the owners of shops situated in the Millennium Mall in respect of property tax and conversancy charges.

The interim order came in recent days on a petition of the Millennium Mall management that challenged the issuance of property tax and conservancy charges by the cantonment board for the year 2020-21 to various owners of shops at the mall. Counsel for the petitioner Salahuddin Ahmed submitted that the federal government or cantonment board could not charge or collect the property tax in respect of the properties situated in Sindh after the 18th amendment.

The counsel submitted that the impugned challans/demand notices were otherwise illegal and without lawful authority as the annual rental value of the subject property had been enhanced in violation of law without calling objections. He submitted that similar petitions containing similar controversy were already pending before the court wherein notices had been issued to respondents and they had been restrained from taking any adverse action against the petitioners pursuant to the similar impugned challans/demand notices. The lawyer submitted that the notice of the instant petition may be issued to the respondents and the same may be taken up along with the identical connected petitions. The SHC drew attention of the counsel to the fact that the instant petition was filed by the Millennium Mall management without impleading the relevant owners of shops against whom the impugned challans/demand notices had been issued under the Section 91 of the Cantonment Act, 1924, and hence the shop owners were required to be impleaded for claiming any interim or final relief in accordance with law. The counsel requested the high court to allow him to file an amended title by impleading the relevant owners of shops as petitioners and affix the court’s fees accordingly within seven days.

Granting the request, the SHC issued pre-admission notice to the Faisal Cantonment, federal government and others and called their comments on May 24. In the meantime, the court ordered that respondents shall not take any adverse action against the petitioners against whom impugned challans/demand notices were issued.