Grameen Kalyan appeals against High Court order to pay Tk666cr tax
The court also noted that although the two writ petitions challenged the legality of Tk666 crore in income tax imposed for five assessment years from 2012-13 to 2016-17, the same organisation, Grameen Kalyan, had paid similar income tax for the 2017-2019 assessment years.
Grameen Kalyan, a non-profit social business founded by Muhammad Yunus, has filed appeals against a High Court verdict dismissing two separate writ petitions challenging the legality of the tax commissioner's decision to demand Tk666 crore in payable taxes for five assessment years following reassessment.
Barrister Khaja Tanvir Ahmed, a lawyer for Grameen Kalyan, confirmed to The Business Standard that the appeals were filed with the relevant branch of the Appellate Division today (18 October).
According to Appellate Division sources, the two appeals are listed for hearing at serial No 99 on today's cause list of the Chamber Judge Court.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
On 10 September, the High Court ruled that Grameen Kalyan would have to pay Tk666 crore in taxes claimed by the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
The bench of Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Rezaul Karim delivered the verdict after discharging the rules issued over the writ petitions.
The two separate full judgments, spanning 15 and 32 pages, were published after the High Court bench signed them on 12 October.
In its observations, the court said the case was "a classic example of tax evasion by the petitioner".
The court said the petitioner was attempting to prolong a matter that had already been settled in order to evade taxes.
It observed that the matter could have been viewed differently, but the petitioner had kept it pending for a long period and left no effort unmade to deprive the respondent of revenue due to it.
The court also noted that although the two writ petitions challenged the legality of Tk666 crore in income tax imposed for five assessment years from 2012-13 to 2016-17, the same organisation, Grameen Kalyan, had paid similar income tax for the 2017-2019 assessment years.
Grameen Kalyan later challenged the legality of that tax through Income Tax Reference No 363 of 2019, but subsequently withdrew the case.
Referring to this, the court said the petitioner had gone against its own position by repeatedly raising the same issue and had shown extreme defiance towards the court's orders, which amounted to disregarding those orders.
