A legal dispute has arisen following a recent property tax increase imposed by the Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC) for its residents.
The situation has developed further as the Sindh High Court has taken action to restrain both the CBC and the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) from coercive actions against residents who have filed two petitions challenging the tax hike.
Residents from the DHA and Clifton region presented their grievances to the SHC, contesting a letter issued on August 23, 2022, by the Assistant Director General of Military Land & Cantonment Boards in Rawalpindi. They argued that this letter imposed an illegal, exorbitant, and arbitrarily assessed tax.
A two-judge bench, presided over by Justice Mohammad Junaid Ghaffar, began hearing the case with Advocate Zaheem Haider and CBC’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer Zameer Hussain present in court. Both parties undertook to provide comments on behalf of DHA and CBC in subsequent hearings. Assistant Attorney General G.M. Bhutto assured the bench that replies would be filed on behalf of the Defence Secretary, V Corps Commander, and Military Estate Office Karachi Circle.
Surprisingly, no representative from the Cantonment Board Karachi (CBK) was present during the proceedings. Consequently, the bench issued a notice to CBK and the Advocate General for the next hearing scheduled for September 20.
Advocate Saadat Yar Khan, representing the petitioners in one of the cases, requested an interim restraining order against the challans issued to the petitioners for property and other taxes.
The bench granted this request and stated that until the next hearing on September 20, respondents should refrain from taking any coercive actions against the petitioners.
They emphasized that properties within a province were subject to provincial legislation, such as the Sindh immovable property tax, giving the provincial government the right to assess and levy property tax.