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Official Citation: 2023 SHC 1110
Court / Jurisdiction: Sindh High Court
Year of Decision: 2023
Decision Date: 2023-11-06
Parties: Nargis Sultana vs Province of Sindh & Others
Ruling Summary: This decision was rendered by the Sindh High Court on 2023-11-06, officially reported as 2023 SHC 1110. In this matter between Nargis Sultana and Province of Sindh & Others, the court adjudicated key questions of statutory construction, procedural regularity, and legal precedent under Pakistani law.
Core Holding: The honorable bench evaluated governing statutory provisions and judicial authorities to establish the rights of the parties, delivering the binding reasoning set out below.
Case cited as 2023SHC1110
Court Name: Sindh High Court Judge(s): Muhammad Junaid Ghaffar, Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan Title: Nargis Sultana vs Province of Sindh & Others Case No.: SPL. S. T. R. A. NO. 1558 / 2023 Date of Judgment:2023-11-06 Reported As: 2023 SHC 1110 Result: Application Dismissed
Judgment Judgment: 1, 2 & 3. Through this Special Sales Tax Reference Application, the Applicant Department has impugned order dated 12.06.2023 passed by the Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue at Karachi in STA No. 139/KB-2023 proposing various questions of law; however, the only question which arises from the impugned order is that "Whether in the facts and circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was justified in holding that Respondent was entitled for input tax claimed?". The case of the Applicant / Department appears to be that input tax could not have been claimed as the suppliers / buyers were blacklisted or were non-active; however, the Tribunal has given a categorical finding of fact that it was otherwise. In Paragraph 8 of the impugned order, the Tribunal has held that, none of the buyer was either blacklisted, suspended and on-active at the time of relevant transactions. In view of such position, we do not see that any question of law; or for that matter the question framed by us as above has arisen out of the order of Tribunal as a finding of fact has been recorded against the Department, whereas, it is now settled law that the highest authority for factual determination in tax matters is the Tribunal[1]. Accordingly, the proposed questions cannot be answered; hence, this Reference Application is dismissed in limine. Office shall send copy of this order to the Appellate Tribunal in terms of Section 47(5) of the Sales Tax Act, 1990.
[1]Commissioner Inland Revenue v RYK Mills Lahore; (SC citation- 2023 SCP 226); Also see Commissioner Inland Revenue v. Sargodha Spinning Mills, (2022 SCMR 1082); Commissioner Inland Revenue v. MCB Bank Limited, (2021 PTD 1367); Wateen Telecom Limited v