RAWALPINDI: The Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench Justice Jawad Hassan dismissed a petition filed against Zakat deduction and declared Zakat deduction valid.
Foundation University had filed the petition against Zakat deduction on National Savings Certificates.
The court has declared Foundation University not exempt from Zakat deduction. The court has ruled that Foundation University does not meet the definition of a welfare institution under the Zakat and Ushr Ordinance 1980.
The university is an autonomous body and corporate and financially independent institution. Subsidiary institutions of profit-making welfare trusts cannot be exempt from Zakat.
During the hearing, Advocate Syed Murtaza Ali Pirzada appeared on behalf of Foundation University, while the Ministry of Religious Affairs was represented by Assistant Attorney General Barrister Zain Manzoor. According to the court decision, Foundation University is a private sector university in the records of the Higher Education Commission, which is a fee-collecting and investment-making institution and is not running on a purely welfare basis.
Registration as a charitable organisation does not automatically grant tax exemption, the court ruled, and the foundation university failed to prove its charitable status.
Similarly, the Election Board of the High Court Bar Association Rawalpindi has released the final list of candidates for the annual elections of the Bar for 2026-27.
Around 6,500 male and female lawyers will exercise their franchise in the elections to be held on February 28.
According to the final list released by the Election Board, all the candidates have been elected unopposed for the posts of Additional Secretary and Library Secretary, as well as 6 posts of Executive Members.
According to the final list of candidates released by the Election Board, Saeed Yousaf Khan, Muhammad Faisal Butt, and Aftab Alam Work will be in the fray for the post of President. Saima Shajai and Shazia Yousaf Raja will be in the fray for the post of Senior Vice President, Naila Firdous Kayani and Saqib Hussain Chaudhry will be in the fray for the post of Vice President.
Qasim Mahmood Malik, Malik Saleh Muhammad, and Misbah Aziz Kayani will be in the fray for the post of Secretary General. Sheikh Fahad Fayyaz and Shahzad will be in the fray for the post of Joint Secretary, while Saba Faraz will be in the fray for the post of Additional Secretary.
In addition to Mehr Aamir Shahzad Malik on the seats of Raja and Library Secretary, Haroon Ayaz Malik, Asim Masood, Asad Rafique, Kamran Haider Chaudhry, Abdul Samad Abbasi and Nader Majeed have been elected unopposed on the 6 seats of the executive body. The election will be supervised by an 18-member election board headed by senior lawyer Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Kayani. The polling will be held on February 28 from 8 am to 4 pm.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Bar Council member Raja Rizwan Abbasi has said that in order to ensure effective prosecution in drug cases, it is necessary to enhance professional skills, awareness of modern legal requirements, effective use of evidence, and skills to present a strong case in court.
He expressed these views in a special lecture on drug cases on the third day of the training course being conducted by the Public Prosecution Department Punjab for prosecutors and police officers.
