LAHORE: The deputy attorney general has submitted reply in the Lahore High Court on the 5 percent increase in general sales tax on petroleum products.
Pro-Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf traders’ group leader Amir Mir had challenged the GST on petroleum products in the LHC. He said that the government could not increase the GST merely on the basis of a notification.
The government was bound to get approval from parliament before making any change in the GST. Mir’s lawyers told the court that the government had increased the tax on petroleum products without approval from parliament so the court should suspend it. They argued that the government had no mandate to increase sales Tax from 17 percent to 22 percent.
The deputy attorney general said the government had authority to make changes in petroleum rates and could change GST as well. He argued that the Sales Tax Act allowed the government to make changes.
He said that the court has no authority to interfere in the government’s affairs.
The court adjourned the case until 29 January.
