The High Court has directed the government not to collect 15 per cent income tax from private universities right now.
A bench of Justice Syed Refat Ahmed and Justice Shashank Shekhar passed the order on Monday (September 20) hearing a writ petition filed on behalf of the University of Asia Pacific.
Lawyer Chowdhury Ishraq Siddique plead the petition on behalf of the plaintiff.
Earlier, a writ petition was filed on September 16. In the writ petition, five persons including the secretary of the law ministry, the secretary of the finance ministry and the NBR chairman were named as defendants.
Following the hearing, the court directed the government to refrain from collecting the 15 per cent tax imposed, including the issuance of a rule. As a result of this order, the government will not be able to demand tax from private universities.