ISLAMABAD – Chief Justice, Mian Saqib Nisar stressed a complete shutdown of bottled water for masses on Tuesday.
During the hearing of a case regarding the use of water by the mineral water brands, the top judge expressed dissatisfaction over how the top brands were consuming water without compensating the national exchequer accordingly.
At the onset of the hearing, the chief justice remarked that the water supplied by companies should not be called mineral water, instead it should be labeled as bottled water.
The top judge was informed by the Additional Attorney General that the mineral water brands were not willing to pay Rs1 tax per liter of water.
Upon this, the chief justice observed that the government should impose tax for the water that has already been extracted by the companies.
‘Water worth billions was extracted by the firms.
Who is responsible for such plunder,’ wondered the chief justice.
A representative of the mineral water firm argued that what should be the standard for imposing tax adding that for Rs1 tax per liter, the companies would have to pay Rs42 million for a cusec.
Director Environment told the court that the companies did not acquire any certificate for extraction of water.