KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has fixed June 23, 2016 to hear a constitutional petition filed by M/s IPP against raid and harassment of the company staff allegedly by tax officials.
A two-member bench, comprising Justice Nadeem Akhtar and Justice Muhammad Faisal Kamal, heard the petition on Wednesday.
During the hearing, the counsel for the Inland Revenue Department filed para wise comments in which the department denied allegations made by petitioner and requested for dismissal of the petition as non-maintainable. However, the petitioner’s counsel requested for an earliest date. The court allowed urgency and adjourned the hearing for June 23, 2016.
Earlier, the counsel for the petitioner stated that petitioner is doing lawful business of chemicals and shoe adhesives and regularly filing its income tax and sales tax and had never been found to have carried out any practice of tax evasion or tax fraud.
According to the petitioner, Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation FBR had carried out an investigation against one M/s SMD & Sons in the year 2012, during the investigation, the respondent had issued notice to the M/s W.S Enterprises on February 27, 2012 seeking its record pertaining to supplies made to M/s SMD & Sons.
The petitioner added that it did not carry out any transaction or sale with both companies. The counsel argued that,respondents issued a notice to the petitioner and it filed a reply but officials of the respondents conducted raid at the premises of the petitioner on April 18th, 2016 and harassed the staff of the petitioner. The petitioner stated that it has nothing to do with both the companies but respondents are threatening it under the garb of alleged tax evasion case.
Citing chairman FBR, commissioner Inland Revenue Zone -I, Regional Tax Office-II, secretary Revenue division as respondents, petitioner pleaded the SHC to restrain the respondents from taking any coercive measures against it.
The court was further requested to direct the respondents not to harass to the petitioner and its staff in said tax evasion case.
