Infrastructure fee: release of consignment allowed on 50 percent payment

A division bench of Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday ordered Director General Excise and Taxation (E&T) to release the consignment of the petitioner upon 50 percent payment of Infrastructure fee.
The bench comprising Justice Maqbool Baqar and Justice Muhammad Ali M. Mazhar after hearing initial arguments in the petition filed by one Shakeel Ahmed against imposition of infrastructure tax through Sindh Finance (Amendment) Act 2009 on the goods entering and leaving Sindh province, ordered issuance of notices to respondents for January 11.
In the meantime, the bench ordered the respondents to release the petitioner's consignment on 50 percent payment of infrastructure fee as well as furnishing of bank guarantee for the balance to the satisfaction of the Director E&T. The bench also observed that a number of petitions on the subject are pending before the court and directed to fix it alongwith the other petitions on the issue.
The petitioner has prayed the court to order respondents including Provincial Secretary Finance, Secretary and Director General E&T to stop recovery of the tax by declaring it as unconstitutional. The tax was imposed by the Sindh government for services rendered in respect of development and maintenance of infrastructure.