The Lahore High Court (LHC) has declared as illegal the surcharge being collected in the name of gas infrastructure development.
LHC Judge Shujaat Ali Khan announced the verdict on Friday. During the hearing, 297 applicants argued that the federal government was collecting additional amount in the name of gas infrastructure development surcharge which was illegal and unconstitutional. They said that industrial and domestic consumers were already paying this tax and pleaded that the court should declare the step of the government null and void.
The attorney for the federal government said that this surcharge was being collected for the laying of Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline.
After hearing all the arguments, the court accepted the applications and declared the collection of gas surcharge as null and void.