The counsel for the FBR Barrister Umar contended that the company committed fraud worth Rs 3 million under the head of sales tax as it had not paid tax from 2001 to 2005. He said that the company started paying sales tax from 2009 onwards. This angered Justice Atta Bandial who said when the company came to pay tax, the FBR wants it to pay the previous taxes.
"You want to say the company came to pay the tax and you want to recover the previous taxes. You are compelling people not to pay taxes who want to pay taxes. And this is the reason our industry is being shifted to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka," he remarked. Justice Faisal Arab stated that the FBR woke up from deep slumber in 2016 to realise that the company did not pay tax in 2005.
On this, the counsel for FBR said the Board detected fraud in 2013, and it took time in the inquiry. To this, Justice Arab said that so it took three years for him to complete the inquiry, adding the court cannot do anything on its will as it will have to see the law. The court disposed of the notice given to a private company by the FBR, terming it illegal and said that the Board did not issue notice to the company within a legal timeframe.
In another case, the apex court dismissed appeal of customs department against Sindh High Court's verdict and directed the collector customs to hand over the vehicle to the owner within a week. A two-member bench of the apex court comprising Justice Gulzar Ahmad and Justice Munib Akhtar heard the case.
During the course of proceedings, the bench expressed annoyance over absence of the collector customs. The counsel for the customs department said the collector customs would ensure his presence on the next date of hearing. Upon this, Justice Gulzar remarked that the court would decide the case the same day.
Justice Munib Akhtar remarked that customs officials were catching a vehicle repeatedly. The same vehicle was seized in 2007 and after 10 years it was seized again, he added. He remarked that in Sindh, customs department was only capturing 20 to 30-year-old vehicles that are degraded. He asked whether customs department had no other work to do.
The counsel for the vehicle owner said that customs department captured his client's 1985 model vehicle. Justice Gulzar Ahmad remarked that customs officials again caught a 30-year-old vehicle which paid Rs 0.25 million in 2007. The court after hearing arguments remarked that customs department failed to prove its case as the court was not satisfied with the arguments of customs department's counsel.
The court directed the collector customs to hand over vehicle to its owner in one week and disposed of the case. Meanwhile, Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa while hearing a case remarked that the court would hear cases through a video link from SC Peshawar Registry on next week. Only 15 appeals are pending in the Peshawar Registry and these 15 appeals would be disposed of during the next week, he added. He remarked that after hearing these 15 appeals next week, there would be no pending case in the Peshawar Registry.