Peshawar High Court declares levy of excise duty on hand-stemmed tobacco illegal
PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court has declared that Federal Excise Duty (FED) couldn’t be imposed on green leaf and hand-stemmed tobacco unless it has been processed and converted by a green leaf threshing (GLT) unit. A bench consisting of Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Mohammad Faheem Wali disposed of 14 petitions filed by some tobacco growers, tobacco companies and GLT units, challenging the…
Senator Pauline Hanson has secured a High Court appeal to test the limits of freedom of speech in Australia, as her tweet criticizing Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi over the Queen's death will be scrutinized. The tweet, which called Faruqi's immigration a betrayal, led to a complaint to the Human Rights Commission, resulting in Hanson’s tweet being ordered deleted and her to pay Faruqi’s legal costs.
The High Court will now hear the appeal, which aims to resolve the constitutionality of section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, which prohibits behavior that offends, insults, humiliates, or intimidates others based on race or ethnicity. The first issue concerns the legislative power of the Australian government to enact such laws, while the second deals with whether section 18C infringes on the implied freedom of political communication.
The appeal could influence the scope of laws restricting hate speech, protest rights, and political slogans, as the constitutionality of section 18C is at stake.
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