Saturday, 24 December, 2022 i 30 Jamadi awwal, 1444 i rs 15.00 | Vol Xiii no 175 i 12 Pages i islamabad edition
Elahi rEitEratEs Pa dissolution aftEr ‘conditional’ rEstoration as cM g
lhC sAys governor’s deC 19 And 22 orders held in AbeyAnCe until next heAring
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PunjAb Cm As well As CAbinet restored ‘As An interim meAsure’
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FAwAd Ch insists kP, PA Assemblies will be dissolved ‘in Any CAse’
LAHore/iSLAMABAD
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staff report
ollowing his “conditional” restoration by a larger bench of the lahore high Court on Friday, Punjab Chief minister Pervaiz elahi reiterated that the Punjab Assembly will be dissolved in line with Pakistan tehreek-e-insaf (Pti) Chairman imran khan’s directives. “the decision to dissolve assemblies is final and this decision of imran khan will be implemented,” the chief minister wrote on his official twitter handle after the lhC restored him as the chief minister following an undertaking submitted by him, stating that he would not dissolve the provincial assembly. Cm elahi said that the “imported government” is running from elections, but the Punjab government will ensure that it is “presented in the people’s court”. earlier today, the lahore high Court (lhC) restored elahi as the chief minister following an undertaking submitted by him, stating that he would not dissolve the provincial assembly. before elahi, Pti senior vice-President Fawad Chaudhry insisted that provincial assemblies will be dissolved “in any case”. “the undertaking Ch Pervaiz elahi submitted in the court is a technical issue and it’s not necessary the Pti agree with it. Assemblies will be dissolved in any case,” Fawad told journalists in lahore. LHC Larger BenCH Hearing: A fivemember bench of lhC headed by justice Abid Aziz sheikh and comprising justice Chaudhry muhammad iqbal, justice tariq saleem sheikh, justice Asim hafeez and justice muzamil Akhtar shabir — heard the petition filed by Ch Pervaiz elahi against his denotification by Punjab governor balighur rehman. during the hearing, the court told Ali zafar, counsel for the petitioner that the lhC wanted an undertaking from Ch elahi that he would not dissolve the assembly as any such move would deepen the ongoing political turmoil in the province. the court took two breaks — of 10 minutes and an hour — and asked elahi’s counsel barrister Ali zafar to consult his client about the undertaking.
Following the assurance of not dissolving from the Pml-Q leader, the court reinstated him as the chief minister. the lhC also issued notices to all the parties in the case and summoned them on january 11. the court also did not make it compulsory for the chief minister to take a vote of confidence on the Punjab governor’s orders. the written order said the governor’s dec 19 and dec 22 orders were held in abeyance until the next hearing and the Pml-Q leader as well as the cabinet were restored “as an interim measure”. “however, this order will not preclude the petitioner from taking vote of confidence on his own accord,” the order said. on thursday night, the Punjab governor sprang into action and denotified elahi as chief minister of the largest province in a bid to forestall ousted premier imran khan’s plan to dissolve the Punjab Assembly (PA). in his order dated dec 22, the governor said that since the chief minister had refrained from taking a vote of confidence at the appointed day and time, he ceased to hold the office. rehman, however, asked elahi to continue working as chief minister until his successor takes charge. subsequently, elahi approached the court earlier Friday, saying the move
was “unconstitutional, unlawful and of no legal effect”. the hearing was put off for an hour after the court asked elahi’s counsel, barrister Ali zafar, to seek an assurance from his client with regards to not dissolving the assembly. when the hearing resumed elahi, through his counsel, submitted an undertaking wherein he said he would not dissolve the provincial assembly until the next hearing. “if me and my cabinet are reinstated, then i will not send the assembly dissolution summary to the governor till the next hearing,” the undertaking, which was read aloud by Ali zafar in the courtroom.” subsequently, the court reinstated elahi as the Punjab chief minister and directed the respondents to submit a reply at the next hearing scheduled for january 11. speaking to the media outside the courtroom, elahi’s son, moonis elahi, said that the Pml-Q respected the judiciary. “we will seek a vote of confidence and will dissolve the assembly the same day,” he said. For his part, elahi said that the decision to dissolve the assembly was “final”, adding that Pti chief imran khan’s decision in this regard would be “fully implemented”.
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PA PAsses resolution AgAinst governor’s ‘illegAl’ move to remove PervAiz elAhi As Cm
“the imported government wants to run away from elections. we will present the imported government in the people’s court and the people will make the final decision,” he said. ‘Assemblies have to be dissolved’ speaking to the media shortly after the court’s verdict, Pti vice President Fawad Chaudhry, accompanied by Pti’s hammad Azhar, said that rumours suggested that the provincial chief secretary was coerced into signing the notification that was issued after the governor de-notified elahi. Fawad Ch said the court has proved today that the Pti’s stance was right, and it nullified the governor’s notification to remove elahi. “the governor will be summoned to Punjab Assembly for questioning about the notification.” Fawad Ch, who was information minister in the previous government, also said that elahi was ready to take the vote of confidence and that maybe he would ask the speaker to summon a session in this regard within a week. “our only demand was that the session takes place once our lawmakers, who are abroad, return.”
the senior Pti leader added that Punjab Assembly speaker sibtain khan would write a letter to President Arif Alvi for the removal of rehman. “the details will come out […] the way signature was taken from him and the way that it is being said that he was locked in his office and who meted out this treatment to the chief secretary — the province’s top bureaucrat. hopefully, he will raise his voice and elaborate on who did it.” the Pti svP lamented that the Constitution had been abandoned and the law of “might is right” was prevailing in the country. regarding the lhC verdict, Fawad Ch said it had “rightly” rejected the governor’s move to dismiss the Punjab chief minister. “we have given an undertaking to the court that we will not dissolve the assembly till the next date,” Fawad said, adding that the court had raised concerns about the assembly being dissolved after elahi was reinstated. Chaudhry said that the Pti did not agree with the court’s reasoning but ultimately decided to submit an undertaking “for one date [but] not beyond that”.
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Sanaullah to elahi: You got ‘interim relief’, will have to take vote of confidence LAHORE: Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has said that the Lahore High Court (LHC) has only given “interim relief” to Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi by reinstating him as Punjab chief minister on Friday. Speaking to a private TV channel, he said that Elahi has given assurance to the court that he would not dissolve the Punjab Assembly, adding that the court would give its verdict on January 11 after listening to both parties. “The chief minister will have to take a vote of confidence on the governor’s advice. I am confident that he would do so after the court’s decision. After taking the vote of confidence, it is your decision whether to dissolve the assembly or not,” he added. On the suicide car bomb attack in Islamabad’s I-10 sector earlier in the day, Sanaullah said that more than just worrying about terrorism, we should stay alert to avoid terror incidents from happening. He lauded the police officer who was martyred during the terrorist attack. Earlier, LHC restored Elahi as the provincial chief minister after getting assurance from the PML-Q leader that he would not dissolve the Punjab Assembly. Headed by Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh, a five-member bench heard the petition filed by Elahi challenging Governor Punjab Balighur Rehman’s act of de-notifying him as the provincial chief minister. Announcing its orders, the court also reinstated the Punjab cabinet after the PTI leader submitted an undertaking that he would not dissolve the provincial assembly until January 11. The court adjourned its hearing to January 11. staff report
SHC invalidates super tax g
terming it ‘disCriminAtory’, Court liFts 1-10% oF suPer tAx on relevAnt inCome grouPs profit report
the sindh high Court (shC) struck down on Friday a 10% super tax imposed by the federal government earlier this year, terming it discriminatory. this move will deprive the government of almost rs 247 billion of revenue. super tax is levied upon a certain class of taxpayers in the rates between 1% to 10% on income groups who earn at least rs 150 million. it was first introduced after section 4b of the income tax ordinance (ito) of 2001 for the rehabilitation of displaced persons was introduced through the Finance Act of 2015. this year in 2022, another
section 4C of the ito of 2001 was introduced that imposed a super tax on high earning persons through Finance Act, 2022. it included 13 sectors including beverages, automobiles, airlines, cement, chemicals, cigarette and tobacco, fertiliser, iron and steel, lng terminal, oil marketing, oil refining, petroleum and gas exploration and production, pharmaceuticals, sugar and textiles, the rate of tax shall be 10% where the income exceeds rs 300 million. the shC termed the government’s decision to charge 10% tax on 13 selected sectors as discriminatory. the petitioners challenge the legality of section 4C of the ito “upon grounds that the same unlawfully viti-
ates vested rights accrued in past and closed transactions; is discriminatory, confiscatory; demonstrably devoid of any intelligible differentia…” At the start of financial year 202223, the government set a target to collect rs 215 billion to rs 247 billion with super taxes. the shC order will now adversely impact the annual tax collection target of rs 7.47 trillion. out of rs 247 billion, the Fbr had estimated to collect rs 180 billion in december, out rs 87 billion were expected to be paid by the government owned companies. it is reported that the Fbr requested the finance minister to play his role in convincing the government-owned entities to pay 10% super tax. but that won’t be possible after the shC’s decision.