Lahore | ReNews Pakistan
The Lahore Tax Bar Association has raised concerns over prolonged delays in appeals before the Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue and the Federal Board of Revenue’s failure to implement its rulings, calling for measures to ensure taxpayers receive practical relief.
The association said appeals filed without applications for stay orders were not being listed for hearings for as long as four years. Such delays, it said, were leaving taxpayers facing uncertainty and increasing legal complications.
The tax bar particularly stressed the need to enforce tribunal orders in cases involving blacklisting and suspension. Issuing rulings alone was insufficient unless taxpayers received the relief granted through those decisions, it said.
The association welcomed prompt relief on applications for stay orders but maintained that appeals filed without such applications must also receive due attention.
It called for clear priorities for hearing cases, an end to unnecessary delays and measures requiring the FBR to comply with the tribunal’s orders.

Sihala | ReNews Pakistan
Punjab’s Forest Department has been granted force status to strengthen forest protection and improve action against illegal logging and timber theft, with women personnel inducted for the first time in the department’s history.
Training and passing-out ceremonies were held for women personnel at the Police Training College in Multan and for male personnel at the Police Training Centre in Sihala. Punjab Director General Forests Muhammad Azfar Zia attended as chief guest.
The training was intended to prepare personnel, particularly women forest inspectors and rangers, for their professional responsibilities and improve the department’s capacity to prevent activities that damage forests.
The department has also begun establishing and constructing new departmental police stations. Plans include setting up its own lockups to strengthen the system for taking legal action against suspects allegedly involved in forest offences and timber theft.
Illegal tree felling, theft of valuable timber and damage to natural resources pose significant challenges to environmental protection and the preservation of national assets. The training and expansion of the department’s enforcement infrastructure are intended to improve its operational capacity to address these offences.
However, official details have yet to be released on the jurisdiction of the new stations, operating procedures for the proposed lockups, and arrangements for investigating and pursuing cases.

Lahore : Riaz Hussain ReNews Pakistan

Al Ghani Garden’s Head of REC and Sales, Wajahat Ali Khan, has said that under the “Al-Ghani Tahaffuz Plan”, outstanding instalments will be waived if a person purchasing a plot or file on instalments dies during the repayment period, and the plot will be transferred to the buyer’s legal heirs.
Speaking to ReNews Pakistan, he said the initiative was intended to preserve a family’s dream of owning a home after the buyer’s death. According to Khan, surviving family members would not be burdened with the remaining instalments if the buyer died before completing payments.
Asked whether heirs would be required to pay any further instalments following the buyer’s death, Khan reiterated that all remaining instalments would be waived and the plot handed over to the legal heirs.
He claimed that other housing societies had not introduced a comparable facility, adding that such initiatives distinguished Al-Ghani Garden from other developments.
Khan also referred to the construction of a mosque inspired by the architectural design of Al-Aqsa Mosque. He said Al-Ghani Garden residents would be able to offer prayers there in the future.

Islamabad | ReNews Pakistan
Islamabad’s newspaper market has reopened after remaining sealed for two days, allowing newspaper distribution to resume across the federal capital.
Speaking to the daily Jang, Tikka Khan, lifetime secretary general of the newspaper vendors’ federation, said there was no dispute with the Capital Development Authority (CDA) or any other government agency over the market.
He said 400 newspaper vendors were associated with the market, which had been established approximately 47 years ago. According to Khan, the premises had been sealed without prior notice.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Chairman and World Muslim Congress Secretary General Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq said certain elements were deliberately adopting an unfriendly attitude towards the media and creating problems for the government.
Haq said he had arranged for the market to be allotted to the newspaper vendors’ union in 1982 while serving as minister for information and broadcasting.

Islamabad | ReNews Pakistan

The essential documentation required by banks for housing loans under the Prime Minister’s Apna Ghar Programme has been reduced to five documents, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing and Works.
In a statement, the spokesperson said the State Bank of Pakistan had issued instructions to banks to limit and standardise the documentation required for housing finance.
The five essential documents are the transfer letter, possession letter, site plan, permission to mortgage letter and mortgage registration.
The spokesperson said the changes were intended to simplify the borrowing process, spare applicants unnecessary documentation requirements and improve access to financing for home construction.
According to the ministry, the nationwide Apna Ghar Programme provides loans of up to Rs 10 million for people building their first home.
The spokesperson said complaints had previously been received about banks asking housing loan applicants to submit a large number of documents. Limiting and standardising the essential paperwork was aimed at addressing those difficulties.
The ministry said the revised requirements would particularly benefit first time homebuilders seeking financing and make it easier for eligible applicants to access the programme.