A tale of two markets: Cattle traders take CDA to court
Hearings begin today
Policemen at the unapproved I-11 market. PHOTO: MUDASSIR RAJA/EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD:
Traders have approached the high court to move against the shifting of this year’s cattle market to Sector from I-11 to I-12, as well as the imposition of taxes on sacrificial animals brought into the capital.
Four cattle-traders – Khizar Hayat, Arshad Mehmood, Sher Khan and Akram Khan – filed a petition seeking Islamabad High Court (IHC) directions to restrain the respondents from shifting the market, charging taxes and stopping offloading of animals in Sector I-11.
The case will be heard today (Thursday) by Justice Athar Minallah.
The Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) chairman, director enforcement, deputy commissioner, director municipal administration, deputy director municipal have all been listed as respondents. The contractor for the temporary site in Sector I-12 has also been named as a respondent.
The petitioners, through their counsel Muhammad Waseem Abbasi, have stated that in past years, they were provided with a site in Sector I-11, which was moved to Sector I-12 this year.
Referring to an IHC order from 2014, Abbasi stated that the court had passed an interim order declaring taxes on the sale of sacrificial animals illegal.
The counsel further alleged that the contractor stopped his clients from offloading their animals in Sector I-11, while also demanding large sums from the traders.
Abbasi claims cattle traders are being charged Rs500 per cow, buffalo or camel, and Rs250 for every goat or sheep they offload. He stressed that the government had waived all charges on the selling of sacrificial animals in other cities of Punjab. An application was moved before CDA officials, but they paid no heed to it, Abbasi added.
Apparently unaware of the CDA’s decision to move the market to Sector I-12, vendors and buyers flocked to the old site in I-11/2. On Tuesday, the illegal cattle market outgrew the approved market in I-12, causing many more vendors to move to the unapproved site.
The civic agency has already registered an FIR with the Sabzi Mandi Police Station the I-11/4 site. CDA spokesperson Ramzan Sajid had claimed that staffers from the city’s municipal administration along with police would carry out an operation against the illegal market’s operators and cattle traders.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 17th, 2015.
Traders have approached the high court to move against the shifting of this year’s cattle market to Sector from I-11 to I-12, as well as the imposition of taxes on sacrificial animals brought into the capital.
Four cattle-traders – Khizar Hayat, Arshad Mehmood, Sher Khan and Akram Khan – filed a petition seeking Islamabad High Court (IHC) directions to restrain the respondents from shifting the market, charging taxes and stopping offloading of animals in Sector I-11.
The case will be heard today (Thursday) by Justice Athar Minallah.
The Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) chairman, director enforcement, deputy commissioner, director municipal administration, deputy director municipal have all been listed as respondents. The contractor for the temporary site in Sector I-12 has also been named as a respondent.
The petitioners, through their counsel Muhammad Waseem Abbasi, have stated that in past years, they were provided with a site in Sector I-11, which was moved to Sector I-12 this year.
Referring to an IHC order from 2014, Abbasi stated that the court had passed an interim order declaring taxes on the sale of sacrificial animals illegal.
The counsel further alleged that the contractor stopped his clients from offloading their animals in Sector I-11, while also demanding large sums from the traders.
Abbasi claims cattle traders are being charged Rs500 per cow, buffalo or camel, and Rs250 for every goat or sheep they offload. He stressed that the government had waived all charges on the selling of sacrificial animals in other cities of Punjab. An application was moved before CDA officials, but they paid no heed to it, Abbasi added.
Apparently unaware of the CDA’s decision to move the market to Sector I-12, vendors and buyers flocked to the old site in I-11/2. On Tuesday, the illegal cattle market outgrew the approved market in I-12, causing many more vendors to move to the unapproved site.
The civic agency has already registered an FIR with the Sabzi Mandi Police Station the I-11/4 site. CDA spokesperson Ramzan Sajid had claimed that staffers from the city’s municipal administration along with police would carry out an operation against the illegal market’s operators and cattle traders.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 17th, 2015.