The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday declared the amnesty scheme for smuggled vehicles illegal. Hearing a petition filed by Khawaja Saad Salim against an amnesty scheme that legalises vehicles without paying due amount of government taxes, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of IHC declared the scheme illegal and ordered the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to confiscate over 50,000 such vehicles and auction them.
The petitioners prayed that such schemes discouraged taxpayers and encouraged smuggling; hence, the court should declare the scheme illegal. A representative of the Federal Board of Revenue and Deputy Attorney General Tariq Jehangiri informed the court that the government collected Rs 10 billion through that scheme. They said that the aim of the scheme was to collect additional revenue.
They also informed the court that the Supreme Court while hearing the Balochistan law and order case had expressed its reservations about illegal vehicles, which prompted the FBR to launch an amnesty scheme. The Court declared the amnesty scheme for smuggled vehicle illegal. It also observed in its ruling that the Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) issued by FBR on March 5, 2013 was illegal.
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