Lahore: The Lahore High Court (LHC) will announce the reserved verdict on pleas against the election of Hamza Shahbaz as Chief Minister of Punjab.

According to details, a five-member larger bench headed by Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan resumed hearing the pleas today.

During the hearing, the bench sought arguments from Hamza’s lawyer that whether the Supreme Court’s verdict on the presidential reference related to defecting lawmakers applies to past events.

Hamza’s counsel maintained that the ruling doesn’t apply to past events unless the apex court itself says so.

Later, the court reserved the verdict and will announce it tomorrow at 12:30 pm.

In a previous hearing, the high court had hinted at holding fresh election for the post of Punjab’s chief minister under April 16 circumstances, when incumbent Hamza Shahbaz was elected in a poll on a court order. 

Lahore: The Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) has surpassed the upward revised target of Rs165.5 billion for the financial year 2021-22.

According to provisional collection figures up to June 28, 2022, the PRA collection stands at Rs168 billion, which is 108 per cent of the set target of Rs155.9 billion and 101.5pc of the revised target.

According to the PRA spokesperson, the authority expects substantial revenue in the last two days of the financial year and is hoping to end the year close to Rs170 billion.

It is worth mentioning that earlier this year, PRA became the first provincial revenue collecting agency in the country to cross the psychological barrier of Rs150 billion and the collection in June has further established it as the leading Provincial revenue collecting agency in the country.

This is the third successive year in which PRA has surpassed its revenue collection target. Earlier the Authority collected more than the assigned targets of Rs.105 billion and Rs.125 billion in the financial years 2019-20 and 2020-21 respectively. 

PRA spokesperson further elaborated that this success has been achieved without resorting to any coercive actions such as sealing of premises, attachment of bank accounts or collection of advance payments.

PRA has relied completely on collaboration with all stakeholders and emphasis on taxpayer facilitation and education. More than 200 awareness workshops were held during the financial year with more than 2,000 participants. 

PRA expects the growth trend to continue in the coming years as its management and all workforce is committed to continuing its focus on compliance without resorting to any measures that adversely affect ease of doing business.

Rawalpindi: Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa Wednesday said Pakistan valued China's role in regional and global affairs.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Director of China's Central Committee for Foreign Affairs, Mr Yang Chichi called on the Army Chief and discussed defense cooperation, progress on CPEC and security in the region.

During the meeting, the Army Chief said Pakistan valued ​​China's role in regional and global affairs and was keen to enhance strategic partnership with China.

Mr Yang Chichi thanked General Bajwa for taking steps to provide a safe environment for Chinese personnel deployed on various projects in Pakistan.