Governance: ‘Ruling on surcharges embarrassing for govt’

Govt has wasted money on ineffective power projects: PTI

LAHORE: Lahore High Court’s (LHC) recent ruling against four surcharges in electricity bills has exposed the government’s performance, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Ejaz Chaudhry said on Tuesday.

“The court has declared recovery of equalisation, debt-servicing, universal obligation fund and Neelam-Jhelum surcharges illegal. Citizens have been paying the price of the government’s incompetence,” Chaudhry said in a statement.

PTI leader Yasmin Rashid said a government should not resort to such methods of increasing revenue. She accused the government of wasting billions of rupees on ineffective energy projects. She said that despite huge spending, the government had been able to add only 100 megawatts of electricity to the national grid.

PTI leader Andleeb Abbas said the government should be ashamed of collecting money illegally. “The incumbent government is a remnant of dictatorship that invented various methods of indirect taxation,” she said.

She said in its judgement the LHC had stated that under Section 31(5) of the Constitution, levy of tax was permissible only under the authority of an act of the parliament. “But for the Sharifs the parliament is just a rubber stamp,” she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 3^rd, 2015.