Law: Zakat and Ushr Ordinance, 1980

Section: 3

Law: Companies Act, (VII of 1913)

Section: 26

ORDER MIAN SAQIB NISAR, C.J.- The facts of this appeal are that the appellant, Pakistan Telecommunication Employees Trust (the Trust), manages the Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation Employees Pension Fund (the Pension Fund), certain amounts of which were invested in various banks and schemes etc. The Zakat and Ushr Department deducted zakat in terms of Section 3 the Zakat and Ushr Ordinance, 1980 (the Ordinance). The appellant challenged such deductions through a constitution petition before the learned High Court on the ground that the appellant was not a sahib-e-nisab and thus, could not be made subject to compulsory deduction of zakat. The writ petition was dismissed. The appellant's Intra-Court Appeal was also dismissed by the learned Division Bench of the High Court vide impugned judgment, hence this appeal with the leave of the Court dated 5.11.2013, to consider, inter alia, the following questions:- (a) Whether the appellant, being a trust, does not fall within the definition of sahib-e-nisab provided in Section 2(xxiii) of the Ordinance being a successor to the Pension Fund under Sections 45 and 46 of the Act? (b) Whether the deduction of zakat in the instant case does not fall within the ambit of Section 3 of the Ordinance, which is the charging section read with Schedule-I appended therewith? (c) Whether the Pension Fund, on which zakat is to be deducted, does not fall within the meaning of annuities as defined in the Ordinance? (d) Whether zakat is not payable under Section 3 of the Ordinance by the appellant as it does not own or possess any assets rather held the same as amanat, on which no zakat is leviable? (e) Whether zakat is not payable by the appellant as the funds being administered by it are not its assets but its liability towards the beneficiaries of the Trust in terms of Sections 44 to 46 of the Act? (f) The Pension Fund being a joint account for the beneficiaries/pensioners, who themselves might be liable to deduction of zakat, whether the deduction of zakat prior to the onward payment of money to them would amount to double taxation? 2. Heard. For the sake of brevity, the arguments of the learned counsel for the parties are not…

Deprecated: trim(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/digixyei/sldsystempk.com/view/master-layout/view_case.php on line 492