TANDLIANWALA SUGAR MILLS LTD. vs PROVINCE OF SINDH through Secretary Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Ss

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TANDLIANWALA SUGAR MILLS LTD. VS PROVINCE OF SINDH through Secretary Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Ss. 19, 19a & 35-a---Storage fee, levy of---Legality---Manner of levying duty---Power of Director General to frame rules---Scope---Petitioners challenged the imposition of a fee on the storage of "rectified spirit" in private bonded warehouses and questioned its validity---Impugned notification was based on the powers conferred by Ss. 19a & 35a of the Sindh abkari act, 1878---Section 19 emphasizes that an "excise duty" or "countervailing duty" may be imposed either generally or for any specified local area or excisable article---However, it does not mention any fee as a quid pro quo to legitimize the claim---Section 19 is completely silent regarding the levy of a storage fee---Section 19a is only relevant to the duties mentioned in the preceding section and pertains to the rules that may be framed to regulate the time, place, and manner of payment, which may be levied in one or more ways as described therein---When read in conjunction with S. 19, the provision of S. 19a does not directly apply to the subject levy (storage fee), rendering it erroneous---Section 35a(d) authorizes the prescription of the scale or rate of the fee or the manner in which it is to be paid, but it does not provide for the charge, levy, or imposition of the fee itself---Unless the parent statute explicitly allows for such a levy, subordinate legislation in the form of rules cannot legitimize it---Since the collection mechanism outlined in the purported notification goes beyond the comprehension of the main statute, it is deemed to be in conflict with the principal law---Therefore, the impugned notification, along with the accompanying gazette, is without jurisdiction and has no legal effect---Petitions were allowed as prayed.

TANDLIANWALA SUGAR MILLS LTD. vs PROVINCE OF SINDH through Secretary Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Ss — 2023 PLD 278 KARACHI-HIGH-COURT-SINDH

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