LUMS Exempted From Cantonment Property Tax

The Lahore High Court has ruled that the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) is exempt from cantonment property tax for periods prior to a 2023 amendment to the Cantonments Act, 1924. A division bench of Justice Hassan Nawaz Makhdoom and Justice Khalid Ishaq declared previously issued 2011 and 2017 orders void, stating that property tax demands for those periods cannot be recovered.

The dispute was centered on Section 99(2)(b) of the Act, which provides exemptions for educational buildings. LUMS argued that the conditions concerning public access and the absence of income did not apply to educational institutions under the provision's earlier wording. However, the court clarified that the 2023 amendment introduced a substantive change that cannot be applied retrospectively.

The ruling does not automatically exempt LUMS for periods after the amendment, and the Cantonment Board must assess exemption eligibility through a reasoned order examining each building's use, income, and public-access status.

Brief written by urgent.news from ProPakistani's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.