PHC strikes down Khanpur Dam tax injunction

Ruling resolves legal battle affecting revenue, management of recreational site

HARIPUR:

The Peshawar High Court (PHC)'s Peshawar Bench on Friday dismissed the injunction issued by the judge of the Consumer Court Haripur on the Khanpur Dam tax dispute.

The dispute over the tax collected by the TMA on the Khanpur Dam came to the fore a few months ago when the owners of water boats at the dam stopped paying taxes. The Khanpur TMA has been collecting tax from parking, parasailing, boating and cleaning services and jetty owner at the Khanpur Dam for a long time and providing security parking and cleaning services.

Raja Hanif Kiyani, the president of the Khanpur Dam Boat Association, filed a petition in the consumer court that the Khanpur TMA does not have the authority to collect any kind of tax, on which the Judge issued an injunction against tax collection on July 15.

The injunction order of the Consumer Court Haripur was suspended after the said organisation approached the Abbottabad Bench of the PHC. Despite all the concerned institutions and individuals being parties to this writ petition, the Executive Engineer Khanpur Dam filed a petition in the Consumer Court Haripur to stop the Khanpur TMA from collecting taxes on the dam.

Despite the decision of the PHC's Abbottabad bench, the judge Consumer Court Haripur once again issued an injunction against the August 22 order on which the Khanpur TMA filed a writ petition in the PHC's Peshawar Bench.

Known jurist and Advocate PHC Haq Nawaz Safdar and Khizar Bakht Khan Advocate pursued the case which was heard by the Division Bench of the PHC. Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Shahid Khan heard the arguments of Haq Nawaz Advocate, dismissed the injunction order of the consumer court's judge and wrote in a detailed decision that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act, 2013 empowers the Khanpur TMA to levy and collect taxes.

It is further written that the judge cautioned the consumer court in future to hear the opposite party before issuing any further injunction. Issuing an injunction without hearing the other party causes the local authority to suffer severe financial loss.

The district administration also moved against the president of the Khanpur Dam Boat Association, Raja Hanif Kiyani in court, but he secured bail before arrest from a sessions court.

According to locals, the tax dispute is intensifying at the cost of local residents because of a tug-of-war between the federal and provincial departments. The Khanpur Administration executes the whole tax, while WAPDA seems helpless. The land of the Khanpur Dam is WAPDA's property, while tourists from all over the country visit the Khanpur Dam for recreational activities.