Sales Tax (Amendment) Ordinance 2014: legal requirements not fulfilled: expert

Former President Lahore Tax Bar Association Zahid Attique Chaudhry alleges that legal requirements have not been fulfilled before imposition of Sales Tax (Amendment) Ordinance 2014. He said ordinance promulgated one day before National Assembly's session was against democratic norms.
In a statement issued here on Wednesday, Zahid Attique Chaudhry claimed that promulgation of this ordinance was against the Article 77 of the Constitution of Pakistan. He said rulers on one hand are talking about supremacy of the parliament but steps taken by them negate their words. He said the Federation has the right to impose any tax but at the same time Constitution says no tax can be levied without approval of the parliament.
He said promulgation of ordinance on March 24 was not according to the democratic norms. He said this Ordinance should have been tabled in the parliament under Article 89 of the Constitution. However, he regretted that the government did not bother to take opinion of the elected representatives of the people. Zahid said the Ordinance would also result in increase in the prices of CNG adding additional burden on the consumers.