Temporary stay: Govt orders on Pishtakhara land transfer rate suspended

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court has suspended the order of the district government which increased the rates at which land can be transferred in Pishtakhara.

A two-judge bench of Justice Asadullah Khan Chamkani and Justice Lal Jan Khattak issued an interim order under which it temporally suspended the government order on Thursday. The court directed the deputy commissioner, land record director and board of revenue assistant secretary to submit their written replies before the next date of hearing.

During the course of the hearing, the court was informed by locals Razullah Khan who is also a lawyer, Raees Ali and Hayat Khan that the revenue department has fixed a specific rate for the transfer of land.

The rate was initially decided on a per marla basis: Rs0.7 million for commercial land, Rs0.3 million for residential and Rs50,000 for agriculture land. Later, the rates were increased exponentially, creating problems for owners of the properties.

“The government increased the rates nine months ago without taking locals into confidence,” Razullah told the court. “The increment brought changes of up to Rs0.7 million in the rates of different types of land.” The increase, complained locals, has also caused a hike in the stamp duty on the transfer of land and has brought changes in the process of documentation. Stamp duty is a tax levied on documents such as cheques, receipts, marriage licences and land transactions.

The court was requested to declare the increase in stamp duty illegal.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 2^nd, 2015.