PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has declared the cashing of post-dated cheques, obtained from industrial units in the erstwhile Fata and Pata regions on account of taxes, as illegal.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Farah Jamshed ruled that the justification made by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for encashing the cheques was not valid.
The court held that none of the cheques could be cashed and declared the FBR’s action null and void.During the hearing, counsel for the petitioners, Ishaq Ali Qazi and Shumail Ahmad Butt argued that the FBR had imposed taxes on the transportation of raw materials by industrial units in the merged districts and PATA.
However, the federal government had granted relief in this regard, which led to complications when the industrial units attempted to move goods.They informed the court that after the merger of the erstwhile Fata and Pata, legal changes and various circulars created uncertainty, effectively halting industrial activity.
Subsequently, the court had directed authorities to obtain post-dated cheques as a guarantee and allow the units to transport raw materials.The petitioners’ counsel stated that later legal amendments replaced post-dated cheques with pay orders.
Despite this, industrial units continued lifting raw materials while the FBR and other authorities remained inactive. When the time for recovery came, the FBR, under pressure, began encashing the cheques without issuing notices.
