The Islamabad High Court has granted bail to the co-accused in the Rs 3 billion 200 million tax fraud case against a bond of Rs 100.
The High Court declared the criminal proceedings of the Tax Department against co-accused Shahid Hussain Khawaja as an abuse of power. Justice Babar Sattar also ordered a copy of the court’s decision to be sent to the Chairman FBR.
The Islamabad High Court’s decision states that the bank’s branch manager was arrested for aiding in opening an account in a branch of a power company, the state did not present any material to prove the petitioner’s involvement in the crime of tax fraud.
The court’s decision states that the Tax Department did not determine the tax due on the taxpayer as per the law, the Tax Department arrested the petitioner in violation of the Lahore High Court’s decision and initiated criminal proceedings despite being aware of the Lahore High Court’s decision.
According to the court decision, the constitutional rights of dignity and equality of the petitioner were violated by misusing their powers, and the authorities and tax officials violated the established law in an attempt to collect more tax. The magistrate who granted the remand and the court that rejected the bail did not take into account the provisions of the Sales Tax Act.
The decision further stated that the question of the legality of the criminal proceedings is not before this court, it is hoped that the trial court will take into account the legality of this proceeding.
The court directed that copies of the decisions of the Chairman FBR, Islamabad High Court and Lahore High Court be distributed to the tax officers.
