Lahore: Property tax on tenants, case hearing adjourned until October 5

[Naveed Yaseen]

Lahore High Court (LHC) judge Ummar Atta Bandial on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of a property tax case filed by the shop-keepers of Sarjit Building, Lakshmi Chowk, Lahore, untill October 5.

While arguing, the petitioner’s counsel, Azhar Siddique, said the shop-keepers were facing financial loss, after their shops were sealed by the Punjab Property Tax Department. He pleaded why the shop-keepers should pay Rs 4 million as property tax for the whole of the building as liability of paying property tax lied with the owner only.

The counsel further pleaded that issue of ownership of the property was still not decided, for the shop-keepers would be given permission to pay their taxes temporarily as it was an uphill task to determine amount of tax immediately.

After hearing the arguments, the court said that there would be no bar on them regarding opening of their shops if they paid their shares of the property tax. The court also directed the officials of the Property Tax Department to let them open their shops if they pay their taxes. The court also directed the Property Tax Department to appear before the court along with the record on October 5, Monday.

Earlier, the counsel filed a constitutional petition in which he challenged Section 5-A of the Punjab Immovable Property Tax Act, 1958, dubbing it as unconstitutional and observing that assessment based by applying above provision was not only illegal but unconstitutional as well.

The petitioners in the instant writ petition were Fareeed-ud-din Nasir and five others, whereas the Government of Punjab through Secretary Excise, Director General Excise and Taxation and Excise and Taxation Officer were the respondents in the petition.

The counsel of petitioners, Mohammad Azhar Siddique, challenged sealing of their shops besides Section 5-A of the Property Tax Act 1958. The petitioners were possessing shops No 1,2,3,7 and 8 located in Sarjit Building, Lakshmi Chowk, Lahore and they were given possession of the respective shops following Compensation and Rehabilitation of Displaced Person Act, 1958 through an Evacuee Trust case at Settlement Department. The petitioners were of the view that the dispute of their ownership was still in litigation in the courts.

The petitioners contended that until the case of their ownership was settled, the Punjab government owned these shops and the said property was exempted of property tax under Section 4 of Punjab Immovable Property Tax. The petitioners were of the view that their businesses had been closed without any notification or assessment, and both the acts were against their rights according to Articles 18 and 19 of the Constitution.

The petition further stated that the petitioners were sent notice of property tax worth Rs 40,00,000 while Property Tax Act stated in Section 3 (6) that property tax could be imposed only on the owners of lands and properties.

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