The Lahore High Court on Wednesday asked the petitioner challenging the increased taxes on electricity bills, to protest on the streets against the government’s decision to impose multiple taxes on the bill.

LHC’s Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza during the hearing on a plea filed by Shaikh Muhammad Latif to slash multiple taxes imposed on the power consumers’ bills. He said that the petitioners will need to explain why the taxes are illegal instead of discussing articles of the Constitution.

Addressing the petitioner’s lawyer Ahmed Abdullah Dogar, Justice Shams said that they should protest on the roads if they are not challenging the laws related to electricity.

During the hearing, Justice Shams remarked that protests are a civilised way of convincing governments around the world. He inquired from the petitioner’s lawyer why he did not challenge the laws relating to the power sector.

The court can declare a law void if it is against basic human rights, he said.

The petitioner’s lawyer had pleaded before the court to declare void the collection of taxes in the bills. He said that several taxes are collected in the bills which hike the price of per unit.

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He informed the court that the authorities are collecting the general sales tax twice in a single bill along with FC Surcharge, TV fee, and electricity duty among others.

The lawyer said that the upper courts had given a verdict on the collection of multiple taxes and declared it illegal.