Islamabad Capital Territory

Islamabad | ReNews Pakistan
A court has ruled that a revenue mutation, by itself, cannot establish ownership or prove the transfer of title to immovable property, rejecting a challenge based on claims that 346 kanals of land in Sargodha had been gifted decades earlier and therefore did not form part of a deceased landowner’s estate.
The dispute centred on land measuring 346 kanals situated in Chak No. 29/N.B., Sargodha, which the defendants maintained had been gifted by Dost Muhammad to Ali Akbar during his lifetime.
According to the defendants, the gift was reflected in Mutation No. 204 dated February 6, 1962. On this basis, they argued that the property had already passed to Ali Akbar and was no longer owned by Dost Muhammad at the time of his death. Consequently, they contended, the land could not be treated as part of the deceased’s estate for the purpose of inheritance.
The defendants also disputed the inheritance claim of Sahib Khatoon, maintaining that she had been divorced by Dost Muhammad in 1921. They argued that, as a result of the alleged divorce, she was not legally entitled to inherit from him after his death.
The controversy eventually reached the court after the defendants challenged findings recorded by the lower courts concerning the ownership and inheritance of the disputed property.
Rejecting the challenge to the lower courts’ findings, Justice Hassan Nawaz Makhdoom held that the mere existence of a mutation entry in the revenue record was insufficient to establish that a valid gift of the property had taken place.
The court observed that a mutation was essentially a fiscal entry maintained by revenue authorities primarily for revenue administration and collection purposes. Such an entry, the court said, did not by itself create, confer or extinguish title to immovable property.
The judgment emphasised that where ownership was claimed on the basis of a gift, the party relying on that transaction was required to establish the underlying gift through legally admissible and credible evidence rather than relying solely on its entry in the revenue record.
In the present case, the court noted that the defendants had failed to produce any witness connected with the original gift transaction. Nor had they presented independent evidence capable of establishing that Dost Muhammad had actually made the alleged gift in favour of Ali Akbar.
The absence of evidence supporting the underlying transaction weakened the defendants’ reliance on Mutation No. 204, as the mutation itself could not substitute for proof of the transaction through which ownership was claimed to have been transferred.
The ruling therefore upheld the principle that entries in revenue records are not, standing alone, conclusive proof of ownership and that a party asserting title on the basis of an alleged gift must independently prove the transaction on which that claim rests.
The case also involved the defendants’ contention regarding Sahib Khatoon’s alleged divorce and her consequent entitlement to inheritance, making the dispute significant not only in relation to the evidentiary value of revenue records but also to the determination of succession rights in the deceased’s estate.

Islamabad | ReNews Pakistan
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has reduced sales tax rates for steel manufacturers operating in the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA), providing tax relief to steel melters, composite units and re-rollers in the regions.
Under the revised arrangement, steel melters and composite units using locally purchased remeltable steel scrap will be required to pay sales tax at the rate of Rs20 per unit of electricity consumed.
Steel re-rolling units manufacturing steel bars from imported or locally procured raw materials will also be subject to sales tax at Rs 20 per electricity unit consumed.
The FBR introduced the revised rates through S.R.O. 1664(I)/2026, amending the earlier S.R.O. 1245(I)/2026 and modifying the mechanism for determining sales tax liability of eligible steel units operating in the former FATA and PATA territories.
The notification also provides a substantially lower sales tax rate for certain steel melters and composite units that rely predominantly on imported raw materials or remeltable steel scrap acquired directly from persons registered under the Export Facilitation Scheme (EFS).
Under the revised mechanism, eligible steel melters and composite units will pay sales tax at Rs 5 per electricity unit if their consumption of imported raw material or remeltable steel scrap purchased directly from EFS-registered persons exceeds 70 percent of their aggregate raw-material consumption during the preceding 12 months.
The preferential Rs 5 rate is therefore linked to the composition of raw materials used by the units, while businesses that do not meet the prescribed threshold will remain subject to the Rs 20-per-unit rate.
Steel re-rollers, however, will continue to pay sales tax at Rs 20 per electricity unit consumed, irrespective of whether imported or locally sourced raw materials are used in the manufacture of steel bars.
The FBR has also established a separate eligibility mechanism for newly established steel businesses and previously closed units that have resumed operations.
Since such businesses may not have a 12-month operating history available for assessing their raw-material consumption, their eligibility for the concessional Rs5-per-unit sales tax rate will be determined on the basis of their quarterly imports or purchases.
The arrangement is intended to provide a workable mechanism for calculating sales tax liabilities of steel manufacturers in the former tribal areas while continuing concessions available to businesses operating in these territories under the Sales Tax Act, 1990.
The change could lower the tax component of production costs for qualifying steel manufacturers, particularly melters and composite units meeting the 70-percent raw-material threshold. The extent to which the relief translates into lower steel prices, however, will also depend on other production costs and market conditions.
The revised tax regime forms part of the special sales tax treatment applicable to the former FATA and PATA regions, where the government has maintained concessions for eligible businesses following the administrative and constitutional changes affecting the former tribal territories.

Islamabad | ReNews Pakistan
The Capital Development Authority (CDA) is preparing to launch a major commercial development project along G.T. Road in Islamabad, with officials estimating that the initiative could generate more than Rs500 billion in revenue for the civic body.
CDA Chairman Sohail Ashraf has directed the relevant departments to accelerate planning and other preparatory work for the project, which the authority expects to launch in the coming months.
Rather than developing or selling the entire area simultaneously, the CDA plans to undertake the project in phases. Officials believe the phased approach will allow the authority to manage development more effectively while gradually bringing commercially viable land to the market.
The project is planned on land acquired by the CDA nearly six decades ago. In 1967, the authority acquired approximately 3,550 kanals along a 16-kilometre stretch between EME College and Nicholson Monument.
The acquired land comprises a 200-foot-wide strip running along both sides of G.T. Road, giving the authority a substantial corridor for planned commercial development.
Following initial planning and assessment, CDA officials estimate that approximately 2,000 kanals of the total acquired land could eventually be made available for commercial use.
If developed and sold as planned, officials expect the project to generate more than Rs500 billion for the authority, potentially making it one of the CDA's major revenue-generating commercial initiatives.
The project, however, also requires the authority to address encroachments and other structures occupying portions of the acquired land.
The CDA has intensified efforts to retrieve the remaining land and has already recovered a significant portion of the property from encroachments. Permanent structures standing on CDA land have also been identified and marked for removal.
Officials said demolition and clearance operations involving permanent structures would proceed after the completion of the required legal procedures.
More than 100 permanent buildings are estimated to be occupying CDA-owned land within the project area, making land recovery an important component of preparations for the proposed commercial development.
Alongside the anti-encroachment drive, the authority has begun work on finalising the project's design and planning framework.
Director General Spatial Planning Ijaz Ahmad Sheikh has constituted a four-member committee to complete the design of the proposed development. The committee is headed by Deputy Director General Architecture Ali Abdullah.
The committee's work is expected to determine how the available land will be divided, planned and developed for commercial purposes before individual phases are brought to the market.
The project could also unlock the commercial potential of a sizeable tract of CDA-owned land along one of the major road corridors connecting Islamabad and Rawalpindi with other parts of the country.
With planning, land recovery and design work proceeding simultaneously, the CDA is seeking to move the project towards implementation and launch its initial phases in the coming months.