Daily Times

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday extended the order against the collection of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) tax through K-Electric (KE) bills till the next hearing and issued an interim written order.

The interim order today was issued by a two-member bench headed by Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi on a petition related to the collection of municipal tax through electricity bills.

Advocates Usman Farooq, Saifuddin, Arif Sheikh and Ihtishamullah Khan were present at the hearing on behalf of the petitioners while S. Hassan Mujtaba Abidi and Azra Moqim were representing KMC.

Former Karachi administrator Barrister Murtaza Wahab was also present at the session.

On behalf of KE, Advocate Qazi Umair, Syed Irfan Ali Shah, Jam Mohsin Aftab, Saif Jatoi and Ayan Mustafa Memon made an appearance, whereas Deputy Attorney General Muhammad Qasim and Assistant Advocate General Mehran Khan were also present

The SHC stated in the interim order that KE had submitted a reply to the petition and also appointed Munir A. Malik and Khalid Javed Khan as special assistants in the case. It added that notices have been issued and parties will provide copies of all documents to the special assistants.

The hearing was adjourned till October 26, while the order was also extended till then.

Last month, SHC barred KE from collecting KMC’s Municipal Utility Charges and Tax (MUCT) from consumers until the next hearing, which was held on Tuesday.

As per the written order of SHC, the provincial government is already collecting property and motor vehicle taxes from the citizens of Karachi and it must be ascertained what is the jurisdiction of KMC with regards to tax collection.