LAHORE, Feb 18: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority on Monday told the Lahore High Court that action was being taken against Local Loop Operators violating the court`s order about staying additional tax on overseas incoming calls to the country.

During hearing of petitions moved by Brain Communications and other LLOs before Justice Khalid Mahmood Khan, counsel for the authority stated that the order of the court had been forwarded to all the operators for implementation. He said most of the operators stopped charging additional tax on the incoming calls. The authority was taking action against the violators, he added.

The judge adjourned further hearing till March 15 and directed the counsel for both the parties to come up with concluding arguments. The judge also extended the stayorder till next hearing.

The petitioners (operators) stated that the additional tax on the international incoming calls was a violation of the rules prescribed in section 4 of the Competition Commission Act which prohibits price fixing and division of market through quotas.

They said the CCP was mandated to provide free competition in all spheres of commercial and economic activity to enhance economic efficiency and to protect consumers from anti competitive behaviour.

The petitioners said the commission had also objected to levy the additional tax but the PTA ignored the reservations.

The petitioners said overseas Pakistanis had been facing immense difficulty and financial loss due to the `illegal` additional tax. After the levy of the said tax since Oct 1, 2012, Pakistanis living abroad had been paying four times extra charges on a phonecall made to homeland.

The petitioners requested the court to declare the impugned tax unlawful and restrain PTA from collecting the levy.

`Extra-judicial killings` The Lahore High Court chief justice on Monday took notice of several incidents of `extra-judicial killings` in Punjab and directed district and sessions court judges concerned to submit detailed reports of police investigations in the cases.

The CJ took the notice on news reports appearing in various newspapers.

In Toba Tek Singh, police allegedly tortured Mahboob Alam to death and dumped his body near a graveyard.

In a similar incident in Khangah Dogran, police arrested Zafar Ali and tortured him to death. In Raiwind City, police killed a la-bourer Nadeem Ahmed in custody.

Taking notice of another news item, the in-charge of the Chief Justice Complaint Cell sought a detailed report from Lahore D&SJ into allegations on the Sandha police of patronising murderers of a labourer`s son, Shahzad Ahmad. Family of the deceased also staged a protest demonstration against the police and demanded provincial authorities take notice of the matter.

The CJ also took notice of the murder of a woman Samina by her husband on the premises of district courts in Sahiwal.

Police arrested the accused, Nawaz, and seized his weapon. Sahiwal D&SJ had been directed to file a report about police investigation in the case within a week.

The chief justice further sought report from the Lodhran D&SJ on the murder of a domestic servant Saeed Ahmed by his employers, Azhar and Shafique. Saddar policeregistered an FIR on the complaint of the deceased`s father.

Auction stayed The Lahore High Court on Monday stayed auction of a petrol pump in Garden Town and sought a reply from the Lahore Development Authority.

The pump`s owner filed a petition and submitted that the lease of the pump was valid till 2014 in his favour, but the LDA cancelled the lease and put the pump on auction.

The petitioner alleged that the authority cancelled the lease contract in violation of the rules and urged the court to take notice of the illegality.

The court stayed the auction and sought a reply from the LDA director-general by Feb 27.