Punjab Assembly speaker ‘eats his words’ on agricultural income tax within 24 hours
LAHORE: In a significant turnaround, the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday restored the agricultural income tax raise notifications that it had suspended a day earlier through a ruling of the speaker, after the House unanimously overlooked delays in their prior presentation.
The session, chaired by Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, began with a delay of two hours. At the outset, the House reinstated the tax notifications and approved a motion by Law Minister Rana Iqbal to condone the delay in laying them before the Assembly.
Explaining his earlier ruling, the speaker said the notifications had not been presented to the House for approval despite ongoing discussions in a relevant committee on changes to the agricultural income tax. He noted that the issuance of an SRO (statutory regulatory order) during the committee’s deliberations had created ambiguity regarding authority, making it necessary to clarify the legal position.
On Monday, asserting parliamentary supremacy, the assembly had declared government notifications revising agricultural income tax rates “illegal, unconstitutional and void ab initio,” effectively nullifying all collections made under the disputed regime.
The landmark ruling, delivered by Speaker Khan himself, had that the Punjab government violated mandatory legal and constitutional requirements by failing to present rate-altering notifications before the assembly at the time of the FY 2025-26 budget. In his ruling, he had said taxation powers were exclusive to the legislature that could not be exercised by the executive. He had called the tax raise unconstitutional usurpation of authority and halted tax collection under the revised formula.
On Tuesday, during the Question Hour in which written queries to the Specialised Healthcare Department were taken up, the speaker directed that an oath mentioned by Parliamentary Secretary Rashda Lodhi be expunged from the proceedings.
Treasury member Tahir Parvez criticised the health department, raising concerns over the migration of doctors abroad and persistent vacant positions.
The provincial assembly also saw the introduction of several legislative measures, including the Punjab Film City Authority Bill 2026 and bills concerning the establishment of seven private universities.
In addition, multiple resolutions were passed by a majority vote, including those supporting the construction of the Nawaz Sharif Cancer Hospital, paying tribute to Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, and calling for the devolution of the Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) to the provinces.
After completing the agenda, Panel of Chairpersons member Samiullah Khan adjourned the session until Wednesday morning.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2026
