LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) has stopped the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) from taking any coercive measures against singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan over alleged tax evasion charges.
However, the court directed the petitioner-singer to approach the concerned forum to avail first remedy.
Justice Shahid Jamil of the LHC passed the orders while disposing of a petition filed by the singer against seizure of his accounts by the FBR over alleged tax evasion charges.
Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel apprised the court that the client had paid his income tax regularly but the FBR had seized his bank accounts over alleged charges of tax evasion.
The FBR took the step without hearing his stance, which was violation of his client’s rights, he added.
At this, the court stopped the FBR from taking any coercive action against the singer and also directed the petitioner to approach an appropriate forum.
It is pertinent to mention here that the FBR authorities stated that they had imposed tax amounting to Rs 3,348,000 for the year 2015 after they identified a confidential transaction, failing to comply with the FBR’s instructions within due time, the singer’s bank accounts across the country were seized.
