Court Grants Bail To Accused In Rs3.20bn Tax Fraud Case
Sumaira FH Published January 01, 2025 | 07:51 PM
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday granted bail to a co-accused in a case pertaining to sales tax fraud worth Rs3.20 billion and stated that the action of tax department was illegal
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Jan, 2025) The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday granted bail to a co-accused in a case pertaining to sales tax fraud worth Rs3.20 billion and stated that the action of tax department was illegal.
Justice Babar Sattar, hearing the case, ordered to send the copy of the judgment to chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
The court in its order said that branch manager of a bank was arrested on assisting a power company to open its account. It said that the prosecution didn’t present any proof regarding involvement of the accused in tax fraud. The order said that the tax department didn’t correctly assess the tax against the tax payer and arrested the accused on alleged violation of the verdict of Lahore High Court (LHC).
The court said that the department initiated the criminal action against the petitioner despite knowing about the decision of LHC. The criminal action of the tax department was misuse of authority which affected the rights of petitioner and his repute.
The court said that it is embarrassing that the magistrate who granted remand of the accused and trial court who dismissed the bail petition ignored the sections of sales tax act. The lower court praised the misleading actions of the tax department instead of protecting fundamental constitutional rights.
The IHC also said that the question of the legality of the criminal proceedings is not before this court, the court hopes that the trial court will take into account the legality of the proceedings.
